Accessibility

[9] Universal design typically provides a single general solution that can accommodate people with disabilities as well as the rest of the population.

Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities commits signatories to provide for full accessibility in their countries.

[13] In the United States, government mandates including Section 508, WCAG,[14] DDA are all enforcing practices to standardize accessibility testing engineering in product development.

The harmonization of accessibility standards within the EU "would facilitate the social integration of persons with disabilities and the elderly and their mobility across member states, thereby also fostering the free movement principle".

The UN CRPD, and courts in the United States, Japan, UK, and elsewhere, have decided that when it is needed to assure secret ballot, authorities should provide voters with assistive technology.

Workers in Western countries fare relatively well, having access to more services and training as well as legal protections against employment discrimination.

Among occupations with 100,000 or more people, dishwashers had the highest disability rate (14.3%), followed by refuse and recyclable material collectors (12.7%), personal care aides (11.9%), and janitors and building cleaners (11.8%).

The rates for refuse and recyclable material collectors, personal care aides, and janitors and building cleaners were not statistically different from one another.

[40] The combination of access from a kerb was the technological development of the 1990s, as step-free interior layouts for buses had existed in some cases for decades, with entrance steps being introduced as chassis designs and overall height regulations changed.

These requirements are defined in the UK Community Planning Acts legislation[41] and more detailed guidance has been issued by the Department for Transport for each local authority.

[44] This code of practice was first published in 2002 with the objective of compliance to Section 71B of the Railways Act 1993,[45] and revised after a public consultation period in 2008.

The system will utilise clear signage at stations and QR codes, allowing customers to send details of the assistance they require and their planned journey to staff remotely.

[47] At the same time, promotion of active travel, or 'shared space' initiatives to pedestrianise city centres can introduce unintended barriers, especially for pedestrians who are visually impaired and who can find these environments confusing or even dangerous.

[48] Most existing and new housing, even in the wealthiest nations, lack basic accessibility features unless the designated, immediate occupant of a home currently has a disability.

However, there are some initiatives to change typical residential practices so that new homes incorporate basic access features such as zero-step entries and door widths adequate for wheelchairs to pass through.

Furthermore, a Visitability movement[52] begun by grass roots disability advocates in the 1980s focuses specifically on changing construction practices in new housing.

Accessibility in the design of housing and household devices has become more prominent in recent decades due to a rapidly ageing population in developed countries.

The English Housing Survey for 2018/19 found only 9% of homes in England have key features, such as a toilet at entrance level and sufficiently wide doorways, to deem them accessible.

In 2018, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued an opinion that all polling stations should be fully accessible.

In many countries this has led to initiatives, laws and/or regulations that aim toward providing universal access to the internet and to phone systems at reasonable cost to citizens.

Some technologies can be used at home, in the workplace, and in school, expanding the ability of the user to participate in various spheres of daily life.

This can interfere with voice-only interfaces, like automated customer service telephone systems, because it is sometimes difficult to increase the volume and repeat the message.

While these technologies provides access for visually impaired individuals, the primary benefactor has been automated systems that replace live human customer service representatives that handle telephone calls.

Each level requires a stricter set of conformance guidelines, such as different versions of HTML (Transitional vs Strict) and other techniques that need to be incorporated into coding before accomplishing validation.

Online tools allow users to submit their website and automatically run it through the WCAG guidelines and produce a report, stating whether or not they conform to each level of compliance.

While validations against WCAG, and other accessibility badges can also be included, they should be put lower down the statement, as most disabled people still do not understand these technical terms.

It is still challenging for some students with disabilities to fully participate in mainstream education settings, but many adaptive technologies and assistive programs are making improvements.

Currently, states are permitted to develop two different types of tests in addition to the standard grade-level assessments to target students with special needs.

Second, new regulations permit the use of alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards to report proficiency for up to 2% of students in a state.

To ensure that these new tests generate results that allow valid inferences to be made about student performance, they must be accessible to as many people as possible.