OTAN News

Assistive & Accessible Technology

Webpage: Assistive & Accessible Technology External Link Icon opens in new window or tab

This webpage explores the differences between assistive and accessible technology. To summarize:

Assistive technology is a piece of software or hardware designed to perform a specific task. These are some examples:

• Braille keyboard External Link Icon opens in new window or tab
• Screen reader software External Link Icon opens in new window or tab (reads aloud from digital text)
• Speech to text software External Link Icon opens in new window or tab (People can use their voices to enter text into a word processing document.)

Accessible technology is technology with “built-in customizable features.” These technologies support individuals to best meet “their unique needs within their environments.” Computer and mobile devices have accessibility features ready to use, so the person doesn’t need additional software or hardware. Some examples include:

• Screen contrast choices
• Text size choices
• Immersive reader

Visit OTAN’s Accessibility Resources External Link Icon opens in new window or tab Webpage for more information.