Digital inaccessibility: Blind and low-vision people have powerful technology but still face barriers to the digital world

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Michele McDonnall, Mississippi State University

(THE CONVERSATION) Imagine that you have low vision and you’re completing an online job application using screen reader software.

You get through half the form and then come to a question with drop-down options the screen reader cannot access because the online form doesn’t conform to accessibility standards. You’re stuck. You can’t submit the application, and your time has been wasted.

Assistive technologies like screen readers go a long way toward closing the gap between people who are blind or have low vision and their sighted peers. But the technologies often hit roadblocks because the information they are designed to work with – documents, websites and software programs – don’t work with them, leaving the information inaccessible.

There are 8 million people with blindness or low vision in the U.S. More than 4.23 million of them are working age, but only about half of that working-age population are employed. Employment rates for people with blindness or low vision have historically been much lower than for the general population.

An overwhelming majority of jobs...