How new technology can transform the world for people with disabilities

By 2030, one in five people in Canada will have a disability - creating a huge economic opportunity to invest in that demographic.

Thestar.com
May 6, 2016
By Rick Hansen

How much can change in a decade? How much can stay the same?

When I imagine what life could be like in 2025 for people with disabilities, two realities come to mind.

In one reality, we have successfully collaborated with the technology industry and used the power of innovation to remove barriers for people with disabilities. In that world, people who once had limited mobility can walk again; those with sight challenges don’t have to modify their work stations to do their jobs; and accessibility information and navigation is readily available to the people who need it.

In the other reality, we have let a huge opportunity pass us by. We have let technology benefit certain sectors, but have missed out on making accessibility a priority because of misconceptions and outdated stigmas about the potential of people with disabilities. We absolutely cannot let this happen. Technology has the power to liberate ability, and with awareness and the right incentives, it can change all of our lives, not just those of us who have - or will have - disabilities.

Thirty years ago, I was halfway through my Man In Motion World Tour, raising awareness for the potential of people with disabilities by pushing my wheelchair around the globe. Back then the world was large, inaccessible and disconnected. But now, thanks to progress and technology, the world is smaller and the pace of change is accelerating exponentially.

But we still have lots of work to do.

According to the UN, today there are more than a billion people in the world with some sort of a disability, and the numbers are growing. Statistics Canada estimates that by 2030, one in five people in Canada will have a disability. That means there is a huge economic opportunity to invest in that demographic - and businesses are catching on.

Last spring, Google.org kicked off the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, an open call to global non-profits who are building transformative technologies for people around the world with disabilities.

In April, the tech giant announced an investment of $20 million to fund the successful applicants: 29 organizations developing products such as 3D-printed prosthetics and smart glasses that can help with vision loss, according to PCMag.

From innovative electric wheelchairs and prosthetics to multilingual keyboards you can control with eye-tracking technology, the solutions focus on five main categories: education, communication, mobility, independence and employment, Wired reported. Other projects include GPS navigation for the blind, assistive communication devices and tools for publishers to ensure that every book is accessible for people with disabilities.

“The organizations we’re supporting all have big ideas for how technology can help create new solutions, and each of their ideas has the potential to scale. Each organization has also committed to open sourcing their technology - which helps encourage and speed up innovation in a sector that has historically been siloed,” Google project lead Brigitte Hoyer wrote in the blog post.

To break down these silos, more and more businesses need to make universal design, assistive technology and improved accessibility a priority so that barriers to the built environment, employment and education can be removed. Some solutions will provide cure-based innovations and others will work to minimize the impact of a disability, such as enhanced communications devices, creative new mobility aids or programs that create change within the built environment.

To that end, the Rick Hansen Foundation is working to create a certification program similar to LEED’s that will create a universal standard of accessibility for the built environment. With the right legislation and incentives, we can make being “accessible” as ubiquitous and desirable as being “green,” and ensure that access is not only a smart economic decision, but a human right as well.

In partnership with the Global Solutions Network, we created the Global Access and Inclusion Hub, a digital space for people working on accessibility issues across sectors around the world to share information and ideas, and leverage technology and innovation. The network will accelerate the exchange of knowledge and foster collaboration on big issues that government, the private sector and philanthropy can’t address independently.

While accessibility solutions will benefit people with disabilities and the businesses that sell to and employ them, there is also potential for crossover within other groups. For example, a fully accessible building can benefit a new parent with a stroller, or someone with a temporary injury who needs crutches.

There is enormous potential in working together to remove barriers for people with disabilities.

If we do, by 2025, we could see transformative change not just here in Canada, but all around the world and in developing countries where the need is more acute.

In North America, statistics from the United Nations show that 50 to 70 per cent of people with disabilities are unemployed. In developing countries, that number increases to 80 to 90 per cent, and according to the World Health Organization only 10 per cent of people with disabilities have access to the assistive devices they need.

By working together and making accessibility a priority, we can change these statistics and remove barriers for people with disabilities all around the world by 2025.