Disabilities have a lot in common with the many of the technology markets I have analyzed for the last 30 years: each was developed and considered in isolation, solutions were specific to each area, and the cost was excessive. Nothing united the disability segments just like nothing united the different streams of technology. Until now.
Historically, the technology available to help disabled people has been as diverse as the types and degrees of disabilities themselves. Whether the condition affected is physical, cognitive, hearing or vision, each situation had its own expensive gadgets and associated support structure. The advent of the smartphone and tablet provides a platform for the first time which stretches across all disabilities and also crosses over with mainstream services. Hence the opportunity to bring the world’s billion disabled people into the digital era and provide benefits for everyone.
Furthermore, Smart Cities are beginning to build a platform that can take this to a new level:
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At the core is the individual, now armed with wearables from motion sensing bands, patches, cameras and microphones linking to a smartphone to complement, substitute or enhance particular senses or activities .
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Smart Homes offer a series of sensors linking through the domestic broadband to lighting, heating, and domestic devices which can now be accessed and controlled via the smartphone and more accessible apps.
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And in Smart Cities, the services being made available through different smart devices need to be developed in a common framework and with simple, accessibility friendly interfaces.
Smart City initiatives around the world have been built around specific areas such as automated cars, smart metering, and smart garbage collection. These initiatives, similar to the technology and disability areas mentioned above, are being looked at in isolation and not holistically from a city and citizen point of view. What is needed is a broader, more all-embracing perspective. Designing with all citizens in mind, including the disabled, will ultimately make services more accessible to everyone. And, by placing them in a common framework, services will be linkable and not isolated as in previous generations.
Smartphones, tablets, and wearables are at the heart of this drive for an inclusive society. Since the disabled community represents one in seven of the world’s population, it is vital that we get this right. This group is economically powerful (representing some $4 Trillion of spending power worldwide) but has often missed out on getting online or benefiting from the digital services most people consider their basic human right. Making Smart City services accessible to all will increase both their power and reach. The availability of different channels for communication, instant messaging, video, chat, and, of course, good old-fashioned voice, means that there are now multiple options if one channel is denied through disability. This is true for interacting with city services, but it is also true for helping some of the disabled to enter the workforce and use different technologies to communicate with colleagues and customers alike.
The economics are also compelling. Standard smart devices with accessibility software and peripherals have replaced specialist equipment costing tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since we now have an app for everything, we need to ensure that mainstream apps are accessible to complement the specialist apps built for people with different disabilities such as sign language online or item recognition. Furthermore, including accessibility considerations from scratch from a digital product and service design point of view, avoids the ugly bolt-on solutions that we have endured for decades.
To put this in context: from time to time we are all temporarily or ‘situationally’ blocked from using certain senses or services. For example, during our daily lives, we can’t use our mobile screens when cycling or wearing thick gloves, or we might suffer an unexpected injury that prevents normal activities (try typing with a broken arm). However, these technologies provide alternative means of access when used to their full potential. The point is, that if we design inclusively from day one, everyone will benefit.
Healthcare represents a massive component of local, regional and central government spending but disability often gets lost in bureaucracy. Making things more accessible will help disabled people at every stage of their interactions. Ultimately, all of society will benefit from more inclusive access to healthcare systems and organizations.
The danger is that many Smart City initiatives develop in isolation. Coordination between all city authorities and local business is essential to ensure that data is gathered across all of these initiatives to amplify the benefits across the different segments. We should be very careful not to invest just in making the cities smarter, but making sure that citizens and businesses alike can benefit alongside public services that are being made easier to manage, deliver and consume. By keeping the needs of the disabled in mind, we can educate all parties to be more inclusive on all levels.