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Homework 3: Try Out Assistive Technology

This homework is worth 100 points.

It should be done individually.

HW3 is due on Gradescope on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 11:00am ET.

Learning Goals

  • Gain experience with using common accessibility technologies to access common technology products.
  • Try out two accessibility technologies on technology of interest.

Project Context

Many assistive technologies exist to help people with disabilities adapt computer technologies for their access needs. Some of these relate to their senses (e.g., blind or low vision individuals may use a screen reader to access a GUI) and others relate to their motor capabilities (e.g., a person with quadrapelegia may use a sip-and-puff device to control a computer with two switches/buttons).

Newcomers like you will find these technologies strange and unusual. You will probably become frustrated and angry at how difficult they are to use to accomplish your goals. This is ok because you are not your user. As a designer, learning how to empathize with your user is a key skill to help you design for their needs. And, it shows that while it is fairly easy to spot the barriers people with different abilities have when using interfaces designed for non-disabled people, it is a wholly different challenge to figure out how to reduce these barriers.

Instructions

1. Select two accessibility technologies (ATs) and try out their tutorials.

When selecting your AT, ensure that

  1. The technologies you choose are intermediaries between a disabled user and some website, app or other technology. For example, a screen reader works with any accessibly designed website, or app.
  2. One must be a screen reader (there are many that are freely available). The other should be substantially different, i.e., address different accessibility needs. For example, VoiceOver and NVDA are too similar because they are both screen readers. VoiceOver and Adobe's Read Out Loud feature are too similar because the screen reader provides a strict superset of the reader's features.

Once you select the ATs, find first-person accounts (e.g., YouTube videos) of people using them and watch them.

In addition, you should get familiar with how to use the technologies yourself.

Most free screen readers come with tutorials that you should complete before using them with a technology you will select next. Here is a quick guide to screen reader commands.

Some examples of a second AT that you could choose

  • The free magnifier on your primary computer and/or on your phone
  • Changing color and/or contrast in your operating system or web browser
  • Using the single switch input method on your phone

Here are some resources that may help you in gaining comfort with these accessibility solutions.

Here are some screen reader resources.

2. Select one example of an interesting technology domain

3. Try it out

Download at least one working (ideally accessible) example technology from your topic domain. For example, you could download an accessible game, or get an account with a 3D modeling tool like TinkerCAD.

Try using your selected website, app, or game with both of your accessibility technologies for at least 15 minutes each.

For each AT, record a 5-minute video showing you using the AT with each website, app, or game. If it doesn't interfere with the AT (i.e., the AT isn't listening to your voice and it's not trying to speak out loud), please narrate what is happening in the video as you perform each action.

Note

If the AT makes noise or generates speech as it operates, be sure your video recording software captures the audio!

4. Reflect on your experience

Write a reflection essay, using one paragraph to explain each of the following

  1. For each AT you selected (reminder, one must be a screen reader)
    1. Explain how it works and describe its strengths and weaknesses
    2. What disabilities can benefit from this AT (e.g. screen readers are not just used by blind people)
    3. What first person accounts did you find? (Be sure to cite them!)
      For each account,
      1. What specific technology did they describe using?
      2. What are the barriers and opportunities about the AT described by the person in the first-person account?
      3. How might what you learned extend beyond this specific person, disability, and technology?
  2. What general class of technology domain did you choose?
    1. Explain it (e.g. if you picked VR/AR, explain what VR/AR is).
    2. What general accessibility challenges exist with this class of technology?
    3. Which example of this technology did you download and try out?
  3. What did you learn while using each AT with the example technology? (Write one paragraph for each AT experience).
  4. A reference list of all sources you cited in the essay in APA format.

Remember to properly cite your sources! See HW2 for more information on how to do this.

Submission

  1. Video recording of you using AT #1 with your selected technology.
    1. Submit the link to your uploaded unlisted YouTube video.
  2. Video recording of you using AT #2 with your selected technology.
    1. Submit the unlisted link to your uploaded unlisted YouTube video.
  3. Submit the reflection essay PDF.

Note

All PDFs must be made accessible as described in HW1 or you will receive no points for this part of the assignment.