Speech problems can also result from several disorders affecting nerves and muscles including ALS, dystonia, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy. Similar to the problems facing people who are deaf and hard of hearing, individuals with speech disabilities are dangerously at risk of being ignored as speech recognition interfaces become the norm. People with Physical Disabilities and Motor Impairments For people with physical disabilities or motor impairments, accessibility issues can take on a wide range of challenges. Some people have use of their hands while others do not. Some have the ability to use mouth sticks and head pointers while others rely on infrared devices.
Physical impairments are wide and varied.
They include conditions such as muscle weakness, paralysis, joint discomfort, and spinal injuries, or disease processes such as arthritis and muscular dystrophy. Ironically, one of the key reasons for this increase is directly related to use of personal computers. This led to a growth in the use of emerging technologies such as speech recognition. The growing popularity of Web appliances and devices such as WebTV and Web kiosks, if not properly designed and tested, will present numerous challenges for the physically challenged user. People with Cognitive or Neurological Disabilities Cognitive and neurological disabilities may seem a little more difficult to address.