Working Together with AI for a More Accessible Future | by Iain Kenney

May 19 is Global Accessibility Day in 2023. Today, we celebrate the great steps we've taken to make the digital world more welcoming for everyone. But we also know that there's a lot more we can do. One exciting opportunity is to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make things even more accessible.

AI is a type of computer technology that can learn and solve problems, almost like a human brain. It's changing many parts of our lives. One of the most important changes is how it can make the digital world easier for people with disabilities to use.

Understanding AI and Prompt Engineering for Better Accessibility

When we talk about AI, we often mention 'prompt engineering.' But what does that mean? Think of a 'prompt' as a question or instruction we give to an AI. The AI then responds based on what it has learned. So, 'prompt engineering' is the process of deciding what questions or instructions we should give to an AI to get the most useful answers.

But the real magic happens when people with disabilities become part of this process. Why? Because they know their needs better than anyone else. Here's how this can work:

• Understanding Unique Needs: People with disabilities know what challenges they face every day. By being part of the prompt engineering process, they can make sure that the AI systems are built to meet their specific needs.
• Making AI Solutions Fit Better: Prompt engineering can help tailor AI systems to fit the needs of individuals. With input directly from users with disabilities, these systems can be adjusted to solve individual challenges more effectively.
• Testing and Making Improvements: When users are part of prompt engineering, they can also test the AI tools and give feedback. This helps make the AI systems better and more useful.
• Creating More Inclusive AI Models: AI learns from examples. When users with disabilities are part of the prompt engineering process, they can help create better examples for the AI to learn from, which leads to more accurate and helpful AI systems.
• Making Accessibility Future-Proof: When users are part of the prompt engineering process, they can ensure that as AI systems evolve, they continue to meet their accessibility needs.

We Want Your Ideas for AI in Accessibility

With this understanding of how important prompt engineering is, we want to hear your ideas on how we can use AI to make things more accessible.

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Training and Awareness: AI could be used to simulate the experience of various disabilities, helping people understand the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. For example, virtual reality could simulate vision impairments to foster empathy and understanding.
• Making Content More Accessible: AI could help writers and designers by giving real-time feedback on how to make their content more accessible. For example, it could suggest simpler language, flag potential sensory overload issues, or recommend adding descriptions to images for people who use screen readers.
• Help from Virtual Assistants: AI assistants could be developed further to help people with disabilities navigate the internet. They could be programmed to fill out online forms, read out web pages, or even help with tasks like online shopping or banking.
• Testing Digital Accessibility: AI could be used to scan websites and apps for accessibility issues more thoroughly. It could check if all images have descriptions, if color contrasts are high enough for people with vision impairments, and if all functions can be performed using only a keyboard.
• Helping with Sign Language: AI systems could be developed to interpret sign language live during video calls, making remote communication more accessible for people who use sign language. These systems could also be adapted to understand different sign language dialects, making them useful for more people.

Remember, these are just ideas to get you started. Everyone's experiences and needs are different, so the best ideas will come from people who face these challenges every day.

Looking Ahead: The Future of AI in Accessibility

AI's potential for enhancing accessibility is enormous, but we're just at the beginning. As technology continues to advance, it's essential that accessibility remains at the forefront of AI development. That's where your ideas and experiences come in.

Do you have ideas for new ways AI could help make the digital world more accessible? Or perhaps you have suggestions for how we could improve the AI tools we already have? Whatever your ideas, we want to hear them. Because when it comes to making the digital world more accessible, every perspective matters. 

The future of accessibility is here, and it's smart, innovative, inclusive, and most importantly, it's shaped by all of us. In the age of AI, we're not just users of technology, but we're also creating a more accessible world together. This Global Accessibility Awareness Day, let's celebrate how far we've come, but also use it as a chance to come up with new ideas that will lead us to an even more accessible future.

Post in the comments if you can think of other ways that we can use AI to make things more accessible.

This article was written by Iain Kenney, a Digital Marketing coach at Multiverse.