When it comes to life in a digital world, people who are blind are as tech-obsessed as their sighted peers. They have to be: it’s everywhere in our lives – using apps to order food and rides, scrolling to check emails at work, flipping through TV channels from the couch, and so much more.
So, how do folks who are blind interact with technology? Here are five ways you can experience how people who are blind or visually impaired navigate the digital world:
- Watch gamers who are blind play live on Twitch: Head over to Twitch, an online community where users broadcast themselves playing video games, and see how people like blind gamer and accessibility consultant Brandon Cole use audio cues and clues from fellow gamers to play their favorite games.
- Navigate your computer using just your keyboard: Say someone took away your mouse – how would you access all the different programs on your computer? Try downloading and installing NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access), a free screen reader. Now challenge yourself to put down the mouse and use the tab, arrows, the “enter” key and the space bar to navigate to your email, your browser and more.
- Try Voiceover on your iPhone: Voiceover is the audio way to use your iPhone. It’s easy: Go to Settings, General, then Accessibility, which brings up a plethora of built-in options for users with visual impairment. Enable Voiceover and experiment with it as you browse through your apps. It reads out loud everything from menu items to your emails and texts. You can even turn up the speed of Voiceover – like many skilled users who are blind do to navigate quickly – and see if you can still understand what’s being read.
- Watch a TV show with your back to the screen: Put on a random television drama and look away. How do you know who’s shouting during an argument? What’s happening during a musical interlude? What does a new character look like? For people who are visually impaired, audio description is essential to understanding what they’re watching. It’s inserted between lines of dialogue to bring scenes to life with vivid descriptions of action, scenery and facial expressions. Audio description is available in the settings/accessibility menu on most smart TVs and streaming services. Turn it on and see what you think!
(Want to learn how to make your own video content more accessible? Check out our guide to audio description best practices.)
- Explore the universe through sound: In their work at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Megan Watzke and Kim Arcand are translating the wonders of the universe into sound – opening “the door to the cosmos” to people who are blind and visually impaired. Check out their project, NASA’s Universe of Sound.
Want to learn more?
Our guide to digital accessibility covers why it matters, how to get started — and where DisabilityTech and AI will take it next. And if you want to go deeper, follow these links: