AT Is More Than Screen Readers

Well, hello there. It’s nice to see you. If you’re here because I sent you the link, it’s nothing personal. You’re a lovely person and have good fashion sense. Your choice of terminology, however, can create challenges for the kinds of precision sometimes necessary in my industry. I appreciate your patience as you read this.

Part 1

In the context of digital accessibility:

• the initialism AT means assistive technology;
• the initialism SR means screen reader;
• a screen reader (SR) is a type of assistive technology (AT);
• other assistive technologies (AT) include:
  • a screen magnifier,
  • zoom,
  • voice control,
  • eye tracking,
  • a sip-and-puff device,
  • a keyboard,
  • a one-handed keyboard,
  • an ergonomic keyboard,
  • an ergonomic mouse,
  • a trackball,
  • foot pedals,
  • switches,
  • a mouth wand,
  • customized system colors,
  • a Braille display (paired with a screen reader),
  • captions,
  • transcripts,
  • audio description,
  • a custom typeface,
  • and so on.

Part 2

If you use “AT” in conversation or writing to:

• mean only screen readers;
• relate how something is announced;
• discuss ARIA support;
• justify visually hiding something.

Then you are most likely using “AT” incorrectly. You are probably talking about screen readers. You may be confusing practitioners who understand the broader set of AT. You are narrowing the scope of digital accessibility for the people who have to consider it. You are unintentionally diminishing other disabilities, tools, and techniques.

Part 3

Please stop.

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• Web Accessibility Perspectives Videos:Explore the Impact and Benefits for Everyone from W3C.