{"id":531,"date":"2024-12-26T03:41:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-26T03:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/?p=531"},"modified":"2024-12-26T03:41:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-26T03:41:37","slug":"blind-and-partially-sighted-people-face-new-ai-challenges-advocates-call-for-inclusive-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/archives\/531","title":{"rendered":"Blind and Partially Sighted People Face New AI Challenges: Advocates Call for Inclusive Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) and its associated technologies are transforming industries and daily life, yet blind and partially sighted individuals are being left behind, according to Tom Pey, the new president of the&nbsp;<strong>Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC)<\/strong>. His stark warning underscores the need for inclusive design across emerging technologies like AI agents, video games, and wearable devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1226-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1226-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1226-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1226-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1226-1200x800.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1226.png 1344w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Growing Divide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pey highlighted how existing challenges faced by blind children are now exacerbated by exclusion from technologies heavily reliant on visual interfaces. \u201cThey\u2019re distanced from their non-disabled peers,\u201d Pey remarked, \u201cbecause [their peers] can experience games, alternative realities, and AI-driven visual types of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having lost his sight as a child, Pey is an experienced advocate for accessible technology. He developed the&nbsp;<strong>Waymap app<\/strong>, which provides step-by-step&nbsp;<strong>audio navigation<\/strong>&nbsp;to support people with sight loss. Despite advances, he argues that much of today\u2019s AI hardware remains visually oriented, neglecting the needs of the blind and visually impaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pey has urged&nbsp;<strong>Peter Kyle, the UK\u2019s technology secretary<\/strong>, to legislate for inclusive technology design. He called on companies to embrace accessibility as a priority rather than an afterthought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we look at the hardware around AI, a lot of it is visual,\u201d Pey stated, \u201cand it ignores the needs of blind people.\u201d He noted that this exclusion extends beyond blindness to people who struggle with interpreting visual information, emphasizing the pressing need for inclusive design principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research by the&nbsp;<strong>Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)<\/strong>&nbsp;highlights the digital exclusion faced by blind and partially sighted individuals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Blind people are\u00a0<strong>less likely to use the internet daily<\/strong>\u00a0compared to the general population.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They are also more likely to lack access to smartphones or other digital devices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the RNIB also found signs of progress, with digital exclusion for this group decreasing as accessible technologies emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AI Technology Making Strides in Accessibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While significant gaps remain, major tech companies like Google, Meta, and OpenAI are working on solutions to help blind and partially sighted individuals interact with AI-driven tools:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Meta&#8217;s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Meta has launched glasses that enable wearers to connect with sighted volunteers. These volunteers, seeing through the glasses\u2019 lens, provide real-time descriptions of the user&#8217;s surroundings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>OpenAI\u2019s Virtual Volunteer<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Using\u00a0<strong>ChatGPT-4<\/strong>, OpenAI has collaborated with the\u00a0<strong>Be My Eyes<\/strong>\u00a0app to provide audio descriptions. For instance, the system can describe objects in a user\u2019s fridge and answer related questions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Google Lookout App<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/search?keyword=Google&amp;post_type=product\">Google<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<strong>Lookout<\/strong>\u00a0app assists users with low vision by reading texts, audio-describing images, and engaging in interactive Q&amp;A sessions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>These initiatives show promise, but advocates argue they still fall short of bridging the widening experiential gap between sighted and non-sighted users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Road Ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pey emphasized that young blind people are particularly affected by this disparity. The ability to participate in gaming, alternative realities, and other visually driven technologies is becoming a cornerstone of social interaction. Blind individuals, however, find themselves excluded from these experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a new level of discrimination,\u201d Pey said, \u201cwhich could be avoided by upfront thinking.\u201d He stressed the importance of designing technologies with disabled people in mind from the outset, rather than adapting them retroactively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure equitable access, Pey and other advocates are calling for more robust action:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Policy Changes<\/strong>: Governments must legislate to mandate inclusivity in tech development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Corporate Responsibility<\/strong>: Companies need to prioritize accessibility in product design.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Awareness Campaigns<\/strong>: Educating designers and developers about the needs of disabled users is critical.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Inclusion in AI-driven technologies not only empowers blind individuals but also enriches society as a whole by fostering diversity and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Pey aptly concluded, \u201cThe designers need to just wake up to the fact that they should design for disabled people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) and its associated technologies are transforming industries and daily life, yet blind and partially sighted individuals are being left behind, according to Tom Pey, the new president of the&nbsp;Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC). His stark warning underscores the need for inclusive design across emerging technologies like AI agents, video games, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":533,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions\/533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}