Introduction

In the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution and with the appearance of technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, technologies are reaching a point of maturity and democratization that are transforming our culture and our society. We could speak of “democratization” understood as the generalized and low-cost access of the general population to technology, but technological democratization does not include all people; It is leaving behind several groups, such as people with disabilities, the elderly, people with low economic resources, etc.

As stated in the conclusions of the Technology and Disability Report (10th Edition), of the Adecco Foundation (2021):

– 70% of people with disabilities say that New Technologies have improved their overall quality of life, facilitating their training, access to employment, leisure or communication. – 72% of people with disabilities who are employed explain that New Technologies help them to carry out their job. Of these, 18% use technological support products adapted to their disability (for example, ergonomic mice) and 9% comment that they have achieved their current job thanks to the consolidation of teleworking in the context of the pandemic. On the other hand, 6 out of 10 use conventional technologies in their workplace.- Almost half of those surveyed (48%) declare that they find barriers in the access, use and management of New Technologies. Specifically, 45% commented that their use seems “very complex and advanced”, followed by 29% who found accessibility problems, being unable to use certain devices due to a lack of adaptations for their disability. For their part, 24% affirm that they lack economic resources to buy and acquire new technologies and 16% do not trust digital, with “fear” of being deceived and/or victim of some fraud.- If people with disabilities could put technology at the service of their full inclusion, they would improve existing technological adaptations (36%), they would impose Universal Accessibility as a norm in all new technological products (29%), they would generalize cognitive accessibility in information technologies (20% ) and would apply technological resources to the eradication of prejudices (15%).

Therefore, the lack of accessibility appears as one of the difficulties for which people with disabilities see their democratic rights violated.

In this learning module we intend to offer certain hints of theoretical and practical information on web and Office accessibility, which can favor their social and educational inclusion and, therefore, guarantee their Rights.

The Learning Objectives covered by the Module

Units within the Module :