Supporting technologies
We are all aware that technology is changing fast. With new paradigms comes new potential for inclusion beyond what we typically think of as accessibility. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to help people with disabilities. Many platforms are available, however developers and researches may have trouble accessing them or be unaware of their potential to help people with disabilities.
This work identifies potentially helpful technologies.
It will help researchers, developers and others to know what is available and integrate the potential of new technology into their projects.
We are working with the COGA Community Group to maintain this information.
This is a work in progress - please feel free to add more information by raising an Issue
| Program Name | By | Key points | Contact person | Notes | Languages supported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural language voices in read aloud, Cloud Natural Languages and Cloud Translation | Language and regional accent selection | Rain | https://www.engadget.com/chrome-os-select-to-speak-natural-voices-195026668.html | Many | |
| Azure Cognitive Services | Microsoft | A variety of features like speaker recognition, face and emotion recognition, etc. | https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/Seeing AI and Microsoft Translator are built on this, among many others | Many, not just Western | |
| Action Blocks | Single tap actions on Android | Rain | g.co/actionblocks | English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, German | |
| Action Blocks speaking blocks (lightweight AAC) | Single tap on home screen button to speak pre-prorgramed phrases | Rain | g.co/actionblocks | English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, German | |
| Project Euphonia | Helping people with complex speech be understood by voice interfaces | Rain | https://sites.research.google/euphonia/about/ | EnglishJapaneseHindi | |
| TBA re: reading accessibility | More info coming soon | Rain | |||
| TBA re: fine motor control | More info coming soon | Rain |
Approximately once or twice a year we will have a “town hall” meeting with user groups and industry and researcher about a technology. We can discuss what the technology could do and what users need / would like. Are there topics you would like a town hall meeting to cover?
- Wayfinding (from Rain)
- Conversational interfaces that rely on voice-first interactions (from Rain and Lisa)
- Automated UI simplification (from Rain)
- Plain language and internationalization (from Rain and Lisa)
COST ACTION 19104
Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union