Technology and employment of the visually impaired
Most countries globally have already been given a head start, and have jilted towards helping the rest of the world achieve and attain the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. The SDGs that are in contention due to overlap include reducing inequality among the workforce, decent work and economic growth of world economies, and Gender Equality. Being visually impaired overlays across the three mentioned Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. As of 2017, the unemployment rate for the visually impaired people was at an all-time high of 44.2% (McDonnall & Sui, 2019). This indicates that only half of those with visual impairment have stable jobs that sustain their daily lives, and the rest do not exist within the US labor force. The unemployment rate has been attributed to a lot of factors. Still, the one that stands out is the technological deficiencies that exist in the current system, thus prohibiting the employment of visually impaired people. However, does the technology stand in the way of reduced inequality when it comes to the employment of visually impaired? This remains a problem with an open, yet a hidden solution.
Availability and cost of technology required by visually impaired people
A visually impaired person is that who could either partially see (blurred vision or color blindness), or has a complete defect in the eye and is blind. Most organizations support the visually impaired who work for them by providing the required technological assist which aids such people either in movement around the office or to help them read and visualize the work environment (Orrico, 2013). Other organizations are also dedicated to producing and selling technological aids that help the visually impaired in other organizations to carry out their work (Orrico, 2013) effectively. The technology required by the visually impaired includes reading assistances such as electronic and smart braille reader assistance, smart glasses that act as visual aids meant to enhance blurred vision, and artificial intelligence smart glasses that aid the visually impaired in moving around unfamiliar places. There is also a finger reader that assists the blind with reading physical braille books, and the ARIANNA app mostly used in the United Kingdom used as voice assistance and for path recognition.
Several companies have developed mobile applications that have helped the visually impaired to make calls from their phones, read text messages, and also do work from their smartphones (Hakobyan et al., 2013). An example of such an app is the ARIANNA app. ARIANNA has a lot of utility that can be obtained from it; this mobile application is developed for path recognition indoors either at workplaces or at personal houses of stay. Working with the app requires a person to stick colored tapes on the floor, which would help the app to mark the exact specific route usually used by a visually impaired person in the house. The application also has augmented assistance for structural purposes. The user of the phone points the phone’s camera to the ground; the app then recognizes the colored tapes and gives audio feedback. Additional codes could be placed on the tapes to indicate the exact place the application user is at, whether at the kitchen or the restroom.
Other smart devices help the visually impaired to work at their workplaces effectively. A braille eBook is one example of such a device; Yanko designs came up with a concept in 2010 that hinted towards the development of a braille eBook. The braille eBook was aimed at tackling the problem of braille literacy, which has been on a steady decline since the mid-20th century. According to Hill (2014), “the eBook employs a thermos-hydraulic micro-actuation to activate Braille dots by infrared laser radiation via a micro-mirror scanning system.” By touching the screen of the eBook, the text turns to dots that can be touched by the blind and read, hence allowing straightforward interpretation of the text that can be read by a naked eye.
Artificial intelligence has also improved the state of the visually impaired by aiding them in improving their vision and even making their mobility more effective. Artificial Intelligence glasses are developed by the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic for the sole purpose of creating visual aids while acting as the second eye (Hill, (2014). The AI smart glasses integrate the principles of geometry, AI, ultrasound technology, and computer coding techniques to help the visually impaired by enhancing their vision. The AI glasses are designed to work in real-time with a long-lasting battery, just with a single charge. The lenses employ the use of GPS services and sound sensors, which are connected to a tablet, which helps the user in understanding instructions via sound aid. The GPS technology assists in knowing the exact position of the user in real-time. The GPS also helps by showing directions through an audio output placed in the AI glasses. Whereas, ultrasound helps identify obstructions in the environment; it is useful and can even identify translucent objects such as glass doors and transparent plastics.
There are also smart glasses that help to assist in vision enhancement of the visually impaired. The glass is specifically designed to help those with blurred vision or those with partial blindness. The smart aid assistance vision glasses help the partially blind and those with a blurred vision to identify obstacles and go around them smoothly, move around in unfamiliar places, for example, in anew work environment, and to be independent while using poor eyesight. The smart glasses were developed since most of the visually impaired have partial blindness or have poor vision; this means that a higher percentage still has some insignificant proportion of eyesight remaining in them. The smart glasses have an OLED display screen which is transparent, a camera, an audio unit embedded as a headphone, a GPS, and a gyroscope (Hill, 2014). The glasses use the cameras to capture and show the depth of obstacles. The GPS gives directions in environments the user is unfamiliar with, thereby providing an augmented vision reality, which is essential to blind people.
When it comes to the procurement of technology for the blind people in society, then it is not much of a problem since the technologies are in plenty. The technologies are developed by organizations that sell them for profit but intending to avail to the people who need such devices. Other organizations also produce them for employees who have problems with their visions, thus making access to such technology much more accessible than anticipated by a lot of people. There also canes that are used as walking aids; some rods are integrated with sensors that allow them to vibrate when an obstacle is near the user of the cane. Organizations do these to help reduce inequality and discrimination of the visually impaired when it comes to the employment sector.
Organizations that mostly employ visually impaired personnel but do not have the required technology have devised alternative ways to help their employees. Some organizations have provided aid dogs to their employees to act as an alternative to the necessary technology. The dogs, better known as service dogs, are trained dogs with the specific ability to lead the way for the visually impaired. They are the only dogs that are allowed to go everywhere with their, in restaurants, airplanes, are even hospitals where other types of dogs are not allowed to go to. The dogs are also trained to do additional work, such as remind their owners to take medication and also help those with a reduced balance to balance appropriately while regularly moving around.
The main problem in technology arises from the pricing of the technology used in the visual aid of the blind. For example, a pair of AI smart glasses cost between $1000 and $1500 (Hills, 2014); this price is high for most of the average American, let alone the blind who most are out of the labor bracket. There are also fewer non-governmental organizations that are dedicated to availing funds for the visually impaired to help them get the assistive technology required by them to enhance visual effectiveness. Most organizations also weigh the expense of purchasing the technology for their employees and opt to finance them with no-interest that is paid back by the employees over an agreed period.
Other challenges facing the employment of the visually impaired other than technological problems
Another challenge that the visually impaired have to go through is that of discrimination at the workplace. Even though the perception of people with disabilities is prohibited by the protection that is provided for the federal employment law, it is a menace that still happens right under the nose of the authorities tasked with eliminating this vice. Several states have also put new rules to protect people with disabilities in addition to the federal laws of employment. In a study conducted by Coffey et al. (2014) to investigate the barriers that are faced by blind women was discrimination. Most blind women experience negative attitudes from their employers and co-workers. They are received well in their places of work, and they feel that it is partly because of the visual conditions that deny them a lot of privileges they would have otherwise been enjoying had they had excellent eyesight they could sue to read emotions of people properly.
The feeling of being discriminated against makes the blind not to seek for employment in most organizations; they have the notion that they are bound to be victimized in one way or the other due to their condition of visual disability. The blind people are not allowed to do some of the work since their supervisors pity them and feel that they could be overworking them. Little does the employers know that their acts of pity on the visually impaired creates a lot of resentment in other employees who feel that everybody should do the same work since they are paid the same amount of wages. What makes them discriminate against the blind further is that they are offered a lot of assistance, yet the government does not tax their payments due to their disabilities.
Most of the blind people in America, approximately half of them, fall outside the labor bracket set by the government. This problem has been partly contributed to by the lack of skills and a set system that help the visually employed to get jobs after elementary (`Munemo & Tom, 2013). The visually impaired since they have a hard time going to classes like ordinary people with proper eyesight who read and go through the regular education system with a lot of ease. Visually impaired people require specialized vocational training by highly skilled training personnel. This kind of staff is still inadequate in America, even if they exist. The lack of training creates an unskilled workforce of the visually impaired that hinders them from being employed and also creates overdependence.
In conclusion, technology does not act as a hindrance to the employment of the visually impaired as it, not a challenge to them but rather an aid that helps to ease their work as scheduled in their daily routines. Several technological devices have been devised to help enhance the visual effectiveness of the blind, aid them in mobility, and also help them to read and write. There are also service dogs with act as perfect alternatives to technology as they, too, do the same work done by technological devices. The main problem in technology is the costs of technological devices; the devices are quite expensive and cannot be afforded by everybody. This hinders their usage by the average American. Problems that affect the employment of the visually impaired is the notion of discrimination at workplaces and lack of adequate vocational training. Technology is therefore not a hindrance nor a challenge to the employment of the visually impaired, but driving behind employing more blind people.
References
`Munemo, E., & Tom, T. (2013). Problems of unemployment faced by visually impaired people. Greener Journal of Social Sciences, 3(4), 203-219. https://doi.org/10.15580/gjss.2013.4.020713437
Blind/Visual impairment: Common assistive technologies. (2020, March 10). https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=526852&p=3602299
Coffey, M., Coufopoulos, A., & Kinghorn, K. (2014). Barriers to employment for visually impaired women. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 7(3), 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijwhm-06-2013-0022
Hakobyan, L., Lumsden, J., O’Sullivan, D., & Bartlett, H. (2013). Mobile assistive technologies for the visually impaired. Survey of Ophthalmology, 58(6), 513-528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.survophthal.2012.10.004
Hill, S. (2014, November 19). 5 amazing gadgets that are helping the blind see again. Digital Trends. https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blind-technologies/
McDonnall, M. C., & Sui, Z. (2019). Employment and unemployment rates of people who are blind or visually impaired: Estimates from multiple sources. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 113(6), 481-492. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482×19887620
Orrico, K. B. (2013). Caring for visually impaired patients. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 53(3), e142-e150. https://doi.org/10.1331/japha.2013.13514