We've always said that blind people can be competitive. But being competitive can be tough to do if the technology is moving too fast for you to keep up with. According to a study released in March by researchers at the University of California-San Francisco, less than 10 percent of people with disabilities regularly use the Internet, versus nearly forty percent of people with no disabilities. In the past two years, major computer and software makers have decreed that their products will be built with accessibility for everyone in mind, from people who can't use a mouse to those who can't hear the computer's beeps and whistles. But the needs of people with disabilities still get trampled under the rush to expand the Internet and use it to transform all aspects of American life, from business to government to education.
Inaccessible information is just as much a barrier as a set of steps is to a person in a wheelchair.
After years of pushing technology companies behind the scenes to improve the accessibility of their products, the fight is becoming public. They charged that Internet services such as online shopping, banking and tax preparation constitute public accommodations that, under the ADA, have to be as accessible to people with disabilities as the public library or the mall. America Online recently settled a suit by agreeing to make future versions of its Internet service software accessible to screen readers and other technology that people with disabilities use. The Department of Justice ruled in 1996 that the ADA applied to the Internet, and the government is adopting rules requiring accessibility in all technology it buys. The rules are expected to encourage state and local governments as well as the private sector to pay more attention to the issue.