Global Accessibility Awareness Day: Enforcing the ‘For All’ in ‘Smarter Technology for All’

The broad character of the accessibility and inclusivity area is frequently met with different views. In my 25-year tenure at Lenovo, I’ve witnessed incredible expansion in this area. At its core, my job asks me to uncover the limitless possible of technological know-how. As a business that strives to generate Smarter Technology For All, it is important that we continually function to create innovative strategies to guarantee our equipment and solutions satisfy the requirements of everybody – irrespective of capability.

As we celebrate World Accessibility Awareness Day, I’m humbled to shine a light-weight on locations of accessibility that oftentimes get disregarded. Those people of us fortuitous plenty of to have all five of our senses and mobility intact oftentimes don’t think two times about likely barriers to access. Even so, that doesn’t indicate they never exist.

Embracing variety by structure

In excess of my several years at Lenovo, I have had the pleasure of actively playing an essential part in some of our most impactful work. In 2020, I experienced the privilege of assisting in the delivery of Lenovo’s Products Diversity Business (PDO). By applying a “Diversity by Design” critique board, the business has extra checkpoints to Lenovo’s product planning, growth, and execution phases to be certain every single device accommodates just about every user’s wants.

In September of last calendar year, Lenovo collaborated with Dr. Peter Scott-Morgan for our Type Towns Marketing campaign – an initiative shedding gentle on the have to have for kindness in all communities. Identified with motor neuron sickness (MND) – also identified as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – in 2017, Dr. Scott-Morgan provides Lenovo and our companions with insight on establishing revolutionary accessibility answers to make much better ordeals for individuals with disabilities. Certainly, Dr. Scott-Morgan troubles and conjures up us to force the limitations of engineering for everyone, with potential rewards for innumerable some others with out his issue.

Our colleagues in EMEA have partnered with BlindLook to become the to start with laptop manufacturer in Turkey catering to those who are visually impaired. As a result of this partnership, all Lenovo Turkish notebooks and desktops will be suitable with audio simulation engineering that will allow bigger accessibility to our products and solutions. Shifting forward, Lenovo will now involve a BlindLook blind-pleasant symbol on our Turkish goods.

Initiatives and partnerships like these have aided Lenovo in current developments connected to vision impairment and outside of. The Entire world Health Business estimates 2.2 billion persons have a around or distance eyesight impairment close to the world. Our PCs are thoughtfully constructed with this demographic in thoughts and in a way that allows them identify accurate buttons with ease. For occasion, the “F” and “J” keys now function little finger ridges on them. Additionally, the “Fn” key – which offers quick cuts to executing actions these kinds of as managing display brightness and turning Bluetooth on/off – is historically put in the bottom row of the keyboard, next from the furthest still left crucial. Lenovo’s PCs, even so, consciously position this crucial at the much remaining of the bottom row to support customers extra promptly identify this universally critical button.

Beyond bodily capacity

Typically, when one particular hears about “accessibility,” they are inclined to image the bodily limits – irrespective of whether it be impairment of eyesight or mobility. Nonetheless, accessibility encompasses much much more than tangible restrictions – it also involves individuals that are “invisible,” these as psychological wellbeing.

Exacerbated by the pandemic, mental overall health has grow to be a priority place of focus for Lenovo. The earlier few yrs have proved difficult for those with anxiousness to look for treatment or obtain to groups they formerly desired for guidance. Furthermore, there’s a expanding populace of people struggling from PTSD immediately after getting to be contaminated with COVID-19 and getting unable to depart their property

And whilst the stigma close to mental well being is slowly and gradually diminishing, disgrace and guilt all around the topic nonetheless exist. That is why we have implemented delicate approaches to introduce psychological well being assistance without other individuals in the user’s business understanding they require it. For occasion, we’ve started incorporating haptic sensors in just the touchpad of our ThinkPad laptops that share tips for deep-respiration workout routines. Also, our style and design workforce has established vibrating palm rest alerts to recommend serene respiratory designs to the consumer anytime an uneasy heartbeat is detected.

Some may perhaps be stunned to hear that even a user’s religion can prevent them from fully accessing a device’s features. Some muslim women of all ages, for case in point, could have on a hijab – a veil consisting of two scarves that include the head and neck. Tech producers must take into account whether the facial recognition computer software in a Laptop is able to identify people carrying head attire, for religious uses or other cultural apparel.

Potential innovations

Whilst the world has created wonderful strides in this place, there’s however substantially do the job to be finished. Luckily for us, the tech industry is on the cusp of transformative accessibility improvements. In the future couple months, we could see the improvement of a Lenovo Overall health answer that includes an RGB digicam system in just a PC’s display that can detect your heart’s pulse. We’re also currently doing the job on a BCI computer interface that can be managed by the user’s feelings and emotions. For example, simply just being “happy” or “unhappy” with the route in which the mouse is relocating could let the user to modify its trajectory.

Features that eliminate boundaries to conversation are no for a longer time regarded a “bonus,” but a requirement in all gadgets and solutions. At Lenovo, we pride ourselves on truly delivering on the ‘For All’ element of ‘Smarter Technology For All.’
It is been my wonderful honor to assistance guide our corporation to satisfy the needs of our buyers though raising the standards of how other world-wide technological innovation organizations should solution and embrace accessibility.

We need to all do our respective components to create a planet the place any individual, regardless of capacity, can thrive and prosper.

Check out our World wide Accessibility Consciousness Working day landing site the place you can understand a lot more about our progress on accessibility and the sources out there for every person at Lenovo.