Digital accessibility and accessible digital tools in everyday life

A digital tool is a hardware device (PC, smartphone, tablet), software (apps, management systems), or online services (cloud, e-banking). They are essential for learning, communication, and automation.Accessibility is the ability of these tools to be easily usable by any kind of user. And when I say any, I am not thinking only of people with disabilities, but also of the average everyday person. Just saying.Let me explain better: you do not need to have a certified disability to run into barriers that prevent you from using a digital tool.

Lighter websites and simple interfaces allow people to navigate even if their internet connection is terrible or they do not own the latest “super ultra max” device.

Then there are generational factors: older people do not necessarily have a disability, but they may naturally experience declining eyesight or feel less comfortable with technology. You know those phones with big buttons? Exactly.Cultural factors matter too: not all of us have the same level of education, but we should still be able to access institutional portals or websites without first needing a master’s degree in computer engineering.

In short, accessibility turns a digital product into a democratic tool available to everyone.But what are the latest innovations in digital accessibility?I asked Google and I am passing along its answers, because it is not like I subscribe to some special newsletter that keeps me informed about absolutely everything. I am one of you. Maybe even a bit less so.

The Apple ecosystem.

The US multinational based in California (lucky them, I live in front of a drainage canal), has standardized its systems by introducing an interface where commands appear only when needed.Basically, the menus on iPhone, Mac, and iPad appear only on request instead of cluttering the screen, giving priority to the content itself.A small example: have you ever tried typing a word on an iPhone and then wanted to copy or delete it? I imagine so. Until you highlight it by pressing and holding on it, the menu that lets you copy, cut, or paste does not appear.Many people struggle when faced with a screen full of icons, notifications, and complex menus. Whether that is due to unfamiliarity with technology or cognitive disabilities.People with visual impairments often use zoom, and a menu can take up half the screen, covering the content.Screen reader software (the kind that reads the screen aloud for users who cannot see) does not distinguish between the main content and the menu, and ends up reading everything on the screen. Dragging things out and getting on everyone’s nerves.And then there is the question of optimization: for task-oriented users (those who open an app to do one specific thing quickly, like paying for parking or sending an email), not having a thousand things on the screen makes everything more intuitive.One last example, though there would be many more: think about home automation. Hiding secondary menus makes it possible to display bigger, more readable information, and instead of going through three submenus to turn on the kitchen light, you can create one large dynamic button on the home screen that appears only when you are at home.

Then there are a series of other nice little features I will sum up quickly, such as direct integration with hearing aids for audio streaming and settings control, or AssistiveTouch, which creates a floating virtual button on the screen, useful for people who have difficulty using physical buttons, complex gestures, or simply have a broken Home button. It allows users to simulate presses and swipes, use Siri, lock the screen, take screenshots, and customize actions, reducing wear and tear on physical buttons.Not to mention what has always been Apple’s real strength (and no, I am definitely not talking about the price 😅): software and hardware optimization, which allows the various Apple devices to work together with very few problems and run apps that, on other devices with the same power, would never run as well, because they are all children of the same parents.

Example: try editing a 4K video full of effects on a MacBook Air using Premiere Pro (a third-party app) or Final Cut (an Apple app). The video file is the same, the computer is the same too, but with Premiere Pro everything freezes, while with Final Cut it will feel like you have an unstoppable 4,000-euro machine on your desk. That is the power of all being children of the same parents.

ANDROID

The distinguished competition does not have the advantage of having its own children on which to build an ecosystem, because as you know better than I do, Android is an operating system found on countless smartphone models, each made by a different manufacturer. Samsung, Oppo, Motorola, LG, and so on.However, it has made up for this limitation by integrating Google’s artificial intelligence.The “TalkBack” screen reader has been enhanced with Gemini’s multimodal capabilities. With a simple gesture, users can get a detailed description of the entire screen, including graphic elements, photos, or icons without alternative text.The “Ask Gemini” feature makes it possible to ask specific questions about the screen currently being displayed, either by voice or keyboard, and to interact with apps in a more natural way.Real-time captions use AI to analyze audio and transcribe not only words, but also emotions and sound context. It can even tell if the person speaking is intentionally stretching out a word, like “noooooooo,” and it writes it that way.AI detects volume intensity, displaying caption text in uppercase to emphasize shouting, and it also picks up background sounds and human interactions such as sighs, applause, or coughing, and reports those too.There are also two features that reduce physical interaction.AutoClick: when activated, it allows the system to automatically click when the cursor remains still for a customizable amount of time. In practice, if for some reason the person using the device cannot “click,” they only need to move the cursor to the desired spot, and after a few seconds the software understands that it needs to click and does it for the user.Voice Access: this lets users navigate an app’s interface using their voice. It can be activated in the same way too, by simply saying, “Hey Google, start Voice Access.”Do not worry, you will not need to learn English. It is pronounced like this: Vois Assess. With the stress on the “o” and the “e.”You are welcome.

MICROSOFT

The other distinguished competitor has transformed its operating system (the very famous, and at times infamous, Windows) into a proactive and adaptive system.How did they do it? Who cares.Let us see what Windows 12 can do.Local real-time captions: the system generates instant subtitles for any audio passing through it (movies, videos, calls, apps). And it does it locally, so latency (response time, how long it takes to hear and write) is almost zero. Before, something like this was only possible through apps that did everything via an internet connection. So, between slow connections and round trips, captions were not exactly real-time.Voice Access: here too, just like Android. But everything runs locally, just like captions. Windows itself handles it, and that makes it possible to manage things with almost no limits. Users have control over the entire interface, which can be further customized to meet the user’s motor or visual needs. It can be simplified, enlarged, and a whole lot more, without the computer slowing down under the graphic strain, because AI handles it all.Eye tracking and Optical Control: Windows’ new “system” is optimized to handle eye tracking without overloading the CPU. So even less powerful computers will be able to be controlled with the eyes.And all this, as I said, is not just an “add-on,” like when you put salt on pasta. Windows itself has become salted water, ready for cooking.

Meta

In March 2026, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram integrated new features into its smart glasses. Those Ray-Bans that shoot video, and sometimes Oakleys.We are talking about hands-free features that allow something truly revolutionary, such as asking the glasses to describe the surrounding context. Useful if the user cannot see, but also simply if they do not understand what is in front of them. Imagine being at an exhibition, but not being able to get close enough to the label next to a painting to see who painted it and when. “Hey glasses, whose painting is that? What does it represent?” I mean, not even Tony Stark.

We are looking at something more than just a technological leap; this is a fundamental shift in the social and cultural model.Accessibility has stopped being an isolated technical section and is becoming the beating heart of design. We have stopped thinking about who a product is for and started thinking about how many people it can reach, and how.Now we only have to wait for the same thing to happen out on the street.

The challenge for the coming years will be making sure that all this accessibility is accompanied by real privacy and security. We will need to guarantee users that assistive technologies do not become tools for tracking or discrimination.Why do I say this? Because wearable tools and assistive technologies constantly monitor biometric data, habits, and movements, creating detailed user profiles.And the unprotected and unauthorized sharing of health-related data, for example, can lead to discrimination in the workplace, just to name one case.

Imagine an employee who uses an eye-tracking device or an adaptive keyboard because of a motor or neurological disability. In order to function, those devices collect data such as reaction times, click frequency, and more.

Now imagine a company using that data to assess employee productivity and decide whose contract to renew. Or an insurance company demanding that data in order to provide the company with a policy. Who would end up being discriminated against?Welcome to the Matrix. Actually, no thanks.

In Europe there is the AI Act (EU Regulation 2024/1689) to regulate these things. But I will leave you with a little suspense: we will talk about it next time.

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