.Assistive technology, in the context of digital accessibility, refers to the tools people use to access and interact with software in ways that work for them. These tools don’t change the user. They adapt the technology. And they’re used by far more people, in more situations, than most teams realise.
Common examples of assistive technology include screen readers that turn text and content into audio. Screen magnifiers. Speech recognition software that lets users control a computer with their voice. Switch devices that let users interact with a single button or alternative input, such as a blow tube. There are also built-in browser tools, such as zoom and high-contrast modes, as well as operating system settings that change font size and spacing. Many people rely on a combination of these every day.
Keyboard navigation is vital for much of this to work. Screen readers, switch devices, and many voice tools all depend on predictable keyboard behaviour. If you can’t reach an element using the keyboard, it might as well not exist. If focus jumps around the page, disappears, or gets trapped, users get stuck. Buttons, links, forms, menus, and dialogues all need to work without a mouse, in a clear, logical order.
Testing with a keyboard, checking focus order, and understanding how assistive tools interact with your product helps teams design and build software that works for real people, in real conditions. Making sure your software is usable when people interact with it in different ways is literally the definition of digital accessibility.
Common examples of assistive technology include screen readers that turn text and content into audio. Screen magnifiers. Speech recognition software that lets users control a computer with their voice. Switch devices that let users interact with a single button or alternative input, such as a blow tube. There are also built-in browser tools, such as zoom and high-contrast modes, as well as operating system settings that change font size and spacing. Many people rely on a combination of these every day.
Keyboard navigation is vital for much of this to work. Screen readers, switch devices, and many voice tools all depend on predictable keyboard behaviour. If you can’t reach an element using the keyboard, it might as well not exist. If focus jumps around the page, disappears, or gets trapped, users get stuck. Buttons, links, forms, menus, and dialogues all need to work without a mouse, in a clear, logical order.
Testing with a keyboard, checking focus order, and understanding how assistive tools interact with your product helps teams design and build software that works for real people, in real conditions. Making sure your software is usable when people interact with it in different ways is literally the definition of digital accessibility.
