Assistive technology explained

Assistive technology is equipment or software used by people with disabilities to enable them to use technologies like computers, tablets, phones and the web.

You can watch people using different technologies on the Web Accessibility Initiative website.

Screen magnifiers

A screen magnifier is a piece of software that magnifies the screen and displays an enlarged part of it.

Who uses them

• people with low vision
• people who are short-sighted

How they work

Magnification software tracks the mouse cursor or keyboard focus so the part of the screen the person is interested in is always in view. Screen magnifiers can also enlarge and enhance mouse and text cursors, sharpen edges, and change colours or colour contrast.

A popular screen magnifier is ZoomText on Windows and MacOS.

ZoomText is available to Scottish Government employees on SCOTS through iFix.

What helps

• put key words at the start of headings and links
• write headings that help people find what they're looking for
• write descriptive links and page titles that offer context.
• break up content into sections, headings and lists

Find out more about .

Zoom features

Zoom functionality is often provided as a feature within browsers and within a device's operating system to allow users to zoom in on content to make it larger. This is different to screen magnifiers which are a separate software that magnify everything on screen.

Who uses them

• people with low vision
• people who are short-sighted
• people with cognitive disabilities who prefer to zoom in on content to help them focus

How they work

Zooming is done in steps using either keyboard shortcuts or touch gestures. Each step makes the content a little bigger or smaller than it was before.

Zoom functionality is available in all browsers, plus Android and iOS devices.

What helps

• put key words at the start of headings and links
• write headings that help people find what they're looking for
• write descriptive links and page titles that offer context
• break up content into sections, headings and lists

Find out more in writing content and the GOV.UK guidance on links and writing link text.

Screen readers

A screen reader is a piece of software that processes what's on screen and converts it into synthetic speech or electronic Braille.

Who uses them

• people who are blind or have extremely low vision
• people with cognitive disabilities or differences who prefer to listen to content instead of reading it

How they work

Screen readers have lots of keyboard commands for carrying out different tasks, such as reading part, or all, of a document, navigating web pages, opening and closing files, or editing and listening to music.

Popular screen readers include: NVDA, Jaws and Narrator on Windows, VoiceOver on MacOS and iOS, and TalkBack on Android.

Jaws is available to Scottish Government employees on SCOTS through iFix.

Content considerations

• give images appropriate text descriptions that convey their purpose or intent. Find out more in the GOV.UK guidance on writing alternative text
• write headings that help people find what they're looking for. Find out more in writing content
• write descriptive links and page titles that offer context. Find out more in the GOV.UK guidance on links and writing link text

Videos

• find out more about Text To Speech (TTS)

Keyboards

Standard laptop or desktop keyboards are keyboards with large and/or high-contrast keys.

Who uses them

• sighted people who can't use a mouse or touch gestures
• people who are short sighted or have low-vision

How they work

The tab key is used to navigate between things such as links, buttons and form fields. The Enter or Space keys are used to activate controls and the arrow keys for other forms of navigation.

Note: people who use assistive technologies like screen readers or magnifiers also use the keyboard, but not in the same way because of the keyboard shortcuts that those kinds of software provide.

What helps

• write descriptive links and page titles that offer context. Find out more in the GOV.UK guidance on links and writing link text

Videos

• find out more about keyboard compatibility

Voice recognition

Voice recognition is a piece of software that converts what someone says into text on the screen, or into commands for interacting with programmes.

Who uses it

• people who can't use a mouse or touch screen
• people who can't use a keyboard
• people with cognitive disabilities who prefer to use their voice instead of typing

How it works

Voice recognition software is used by speaking commands for carrying out tasks like navigating web pages, dictating emails or documents,
opening and closing programmes, or finding and watching videos.

A popular voice recognition programme is Dragon on Windows; voice assistants like Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant offer some voice recognition features but are not typically classed as assistive technologies.

Dragon Professional is available to Scottish Government employees on SCOTS through iFix.

What helps

• write descriptive links and page titles that offer context. Find out more in the GOV.UK guidance on links and writing link text

Videos

• find out more about voice recognition