Original title: Building a "Digital Blind Road" to Eliminate the "Digital Divide" (Jintai Vision)
"Please drag the slider to complete the puzzle", how long does it take to complete this action on a mobile phone? Many people only need a few tenths of a second, which is enough to "beat 98% of people". But for Shang Lei in Changsha, Hunan, this is a difficult task. He is visually impaired, and he uses his mobile phone not to "see", but to "listen", and the screen reading function of the mobile phone cannot instruct him to complete such a simple verification action.
Slider Verification, Face Recognition, Sequential Tap to Verify Characters...... These simple operations are tantamount to a deep "digital divide" for the approximately 17 million visually impaired people in the mainland. They are anxious to build an unimpeded "digital blind lane" on the Internet as soon as possible.
Some of the small obstacles are the "digital divide" that is difficult for the visually impaired to solve
"With the help of screen readers, I can do most of my banking through my mobile banking. However, some banks develop mobile apps that are not compatible with the screen reading function, so there is no way to handle business on the mobile phone. Wang Yang, who works as a massage worker for the blind in Beijing, said that for example, some mobile phone apps have disrupted the order of buttons and banned screen reading for security reasons, so he cannot enter the password independently.
The screen reader function is an indispensable tool for the visually impaired when using their mobile phones, and the information provided by the screen reader allows the visually impaired to know what to do next. However, many mobile apps do not consider accessibility adaptation in the product design stage, which is not compatible with the screen reading function.
He Chuan, vice chairman of the China Association of the Blind, skillfully opened the mobile phone app and an advertisement popped up, and he patiently waited for the advertisement to finish before continuing to operate. "Nowadays, many apps have pop-up ads on the opening screen, but the ways to turn off or skip the ads are different, and it is easy to enter the ad page by mistake, so you can only wait. Although He Chuan's eyes have a sense of light, he can't see the mobile phone screen clearly, and it is too difficult for him to accurately find the hidden "×" and "skips" on the advertisement.
In order to attract more users, mobile app developers frequently iterate and upgrade, striving to make the operation easier and smarter. But this is not always good news for the visually impaired.
For a while, Shang Lei hated the "sliding bar". "Many mobile phone applications have sliders, like some hospital registration applets, which use the slider to select the department and time. If the slider does not have a built-in focus, the screen reading function will not be recognized, and the department, time, and number cannot be selected. Shang Lei said.
The difficulties encountered by the visually impaired in the digital age are often difficult for ordinary people to empathize with. "Now, many hospitals have set up self-service machines, which can register, pay bills, print inspection reports, etc., which is very convenient for ordinary people. However, these self-service devices are touchscreen designed, and there is no voice broadcast, we can touch it, but we can't use it, so we can only honestly go to the manual service window to queue up. Not to mention the time-consuming and laborious work, when encountering services that are not provided by the manual window, such as printing inspection reports, you have to find someone else to help, which is particularly troublesome. A visually impaired person reflected.
"I was most afraid of going to the hospital. In order not to trouble others, I usually ask an escort to follow, charging 300 yuan for half a day, the price is not cheap, but there is no way. Wang Yang said. Most of them are small obstacles, but the visually impaired cannot enjoy the convenience brought by informatization and intelligence.
Shang Lei often shares his life in social software, Wang Yang started using smartphones more than ten years ago, and He Chuan is a "heavy mobile phone user...... Despite the difficulties, Shang Lei, Wang Yang, He Chuan, and many more visually impaired people are still trying to figure out how to use their mobile phones. Not only because mobile phones bring them convenience, but more importantly, they want to live independently and freely, and do not want to be left behind by the information age. They hope to be able to have equal and convenient access to and use of information like ordinary people, so as to better integrate into society.
The motivation of enterprises and other entities to promote information accessibility needs to be improved
The interview found that the digital barriers encountered by the visually impaired are not technical difficulties, but because some companies or institutions do not understand the needs of the visually impaired, and some abandon accessibility due to product safety concerns.
Guangdong Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Association is a social organization established for many years and committed to helping barrier-free construction and adaptation to the elderly. Yang Hua, secretary general of the research association, said that taking navigation as an example, from the feedback of the visually impaired, outdoor navigation can basically meet the needs of daily travel, and they need indoor navigation in hospitals, shopping malls and other public places.
In recent years, many hospitals have built in-hospital navigation systems, but most of them display routes through screens. The smart navigation service system officially launched in October 2023 by Beijing Chuiyangliu Hospital has installed a voice function, which displays the location information of the hospital's outpatient clinics, emergency departments, wards and other regional facilities on different floors, and refines them to water dispensers and ATMs, with positioning accuracy to meters. Navigation will have automatic voice reminders at every intersection, turn, change of floor, etc.
"The main consideration is that the patient may have a prescription in his hand, etc., and if there is a voice prompt, there is no need to look at the phone all the time. Zhao Yipeng, an engineer at the hospital's information center, said that now it seems that the visually impaired are also benefiting from it.
According to Wang Li, director of the Digital Management Research Department of the Institute of Industry and Planning of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the concept of universal design has not yet been popularized, which is also one of the important reasons for information barriers. "Universal design requires that products are designed and developed with ease of use in mind. At present, software and hardware product development designers still lack a universal design concept, and usually carry out barrier-free transformation after the product development is completed. This not only increases the difficulty and investment cost of later transformation, but also causes a lot of experience shortcomings. Wang Li said.
Since many application software is barrier-free and adaptable through technical patches, once the system is upgraded, it may no longer be adaptable. "I used to use an app to buy tickets, and it was always smooth. But after an app version update, I can't read the calendar interface. A visually impaired person said.
Enterprises are the main players in promoting information accessibility. "These problems are closely related to the lack of enthusiasm of enterprises to participate in the construction of information barrier-free. He Chuan often communicates with companies on behalf of the visually impaired and asks them to help modify operational designs that do not meet the requirements of information accessibility. However, few companies take the initiative to make accessibility modifications.
Experts said that the current input-output ratio of smart products for people with disabilities is not high, mainly because the demand for accessibility has not been effectively stimulated. Wang Li believes that the information accessibility work in mainland China is still in the initial stage of exploration, the number of business entities is small, and the application scenarios for people with disabilities are not rich enough. The information consumption demand of people with disabilities needs to be stimulated, and the entire industry has not yet formed a mutually beneficial and win-win sustainable industrial ecology.
It is necessary to further strengthen the education of information accessibility and popularization in the whole society
Enterprises and institutions need to understand the needs of the visually impaired, and the shortcut is to establish user thinking and smooth feedback channels. Wang Yang once reported to a bank about the problem of password input, but the result was not satisfactory. "The customer service staff generally forwards the phone to my opening bank, but the opening bank can't manage the problem of application development, and can only reflect it layer by layer. Wang Yang said.
"The main reason why the security keyboard cannot be read is that the bank is worried that the password will be leaked, which will affect financial security. Due to the priority of security over accessibility, the security keyboard is not compatible with the screen reading function. Yang Hua said, but security and accessibility are not necessarily in conflict, for example, it can be set to "users can only read the screen when they plug in the headphones", or broadcast all characters as "asterisks" instead, which can solve this problem.
"Complaints and suggestions always come to naught. Shang Lei said that he had left a message on the "leadership message board" of People's Daily Online, reflecting that an app had launched a love version that was convenient for people with disabilities, but some functions were missing from the love version. Shang Lei said that he called the customer service for a long time, "but nothing came of it."
Of course, continuous feedback will also have a positive effect – the Changsha Municipal Transportation Department invited Shang Lei to participate in the accessibility test of Changsha's bus guide system, and his suggestion was later adopted. "We can use our mobile phones to connect with the guide system, and the mobile phone will give voice prompts when the bus enters the station. If multiple cars enter the station at the same time, I can use the 'shake' function of my mobile phone to make the nearest bus self-report the route number, and the driver on the bus also knows that a blind person is coming. Shang Lei said. By the end of September 2023, 40% of Changsha's buses have been equipped with the new guide system, basically covering areas where the visually impaired work more and travel frequently.
Since 2019, a ride-hailing app has invited representatives of users from different groups such as the visually impaired, the hearing impaired and the physically impaired to hold regular "accessibility meetings" with relevant teams of the company, and recruited the first batch of 25 visually impaired testers in 9 cities across the country to continue to conduct accessibility tests on the app's functions and travel services.
In September 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Disabled Persons' Federation jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting Information Accessibility", pointing out that information accessibility refers to making up for the differences in physical functions and environment through information technology, so that anyone can access, interact and use information equally, conveniently and safely.
"In recent years, great progress has been made in the construction of information accessibility, and the public has become more and more aware of information accessibility. "But we often hear from some enterprises or institutions that they don't know what to do, and it is necessary to further strengthen the information accessibility education for the whole society." ”
The implementation of information barrier-free still depends on enterprise innovation and promotion
"The role of enterprises in the construction of information accessibility is indispensable. Yang Hua said that in the end, the implementation of information barrier-free technology and the support and use of the majority of visually impaired groups still depend on enterprises to carry out technological innovation and market promotion.
In September 2023, the Law on the Construction of a Barrier-free Environment was officially implemented, and for the first time, a separate chapter was used to set requirements and norms for the accessibility of information exchange, which attracted widespread attention from the society. However, the construction of information barrier-free covers a wide range of people, involves many links, and spans a large field, which requires enterprises to invest more manpower and funds.
The Law on the Construction of Barrier-free Environment clearly states that "through financial support, government procurement, tax incentives, etc., to promote the application of new scientific and technological achievements in the construction of a barrier-free environment", but at present, in the field of information accessibility, there are still few corresponding financial support, tax incentives and other policies. Some experts suggested that relevant departments or localities could formulate some policies or measures that could be implemented concretely, and put forward clearer stage goals and ways to achieve them.
"For example, the accessibility of Internet applications will be included in the government budget or special funds will be set up to support the completion of barrier-free transformation of Internet applications closely related to the lives of people with disabilities; Wang Li suggested that policies such as government procurement of services, post-subsidies, and tax incentives can be comprehensively used, and the research and development of digital technology products for people with disabilities can be supported through the fund-raising mechanism of financial assistance, social fund-raising, and multi-party participation, and at the same time support universities and scientific research institutions to strengthen the cultivation of information barrier-free talents.
With the guidance of the law, there is a direction for the promotion of information accessibility. At the end of 2023, the Beijing Supervision Bureau of the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration (hereinafter referred to as the "Beijing Regulatory Bureau") instructed the Beijing Banking Association to issue the "Service Standards for Visually Impaired Consumers in the Banking Industry in Beijing" (hereinafter referred to as the "Service Standards"), which clearly includes 10 new contents, such as voice prompts in the face recognition link and the playback function of blind screen reading software. In response to the security concerns of banks, the Service Standards introduce a "white list" system, if visually impaired customers apply to be included in the "white list", when the mobile banking transaction amount does not exceed 50,000 yuan, there is no need to verify the graphic verification code.
According to the person in charge of the Beijing Supervision Bureau, as of the end of March this year, 9 of the 31 Chinese-funded banks in Beijing have met all online banking service standards. Each banking institution has its own strengths in product development, informatization construction and customer service, and will share experience and work together to improve the service capabilities of the industry.
Industry linkage, the leading role of leading enterprises can not be ignored. Some readers suggested that the free opening or technology sharing of information accessibility technology patents could be encouraged to reduce the technology cost of small and medium-sized enterprises. "Business entities can be encouraged to explore the application scenarios and business models of digital technology to serve persons with disabilities by holding activities such as information accessibility pilot demonstrations and innovation competitions, so as to stimulate the endogenous driving force of industrial development. Wang Li said that the concept of universal design should also be vigorously promoted, and enterprises should be guided to run the concept of universal design through the whole process of software development, functional design, and iterative upgrading.
"For people with disabilities, mobile phones and tablets are also important aids in daily life. However, very few information devices have been included in the list of assistive devices. The relevant person in charge of Honor Terminal Co., Ltd. proposed that the government can also take into account the auxiliary role of information products when formulating the catalog of assistive devices. Allowing users with disabilities to enjoy relevant subsidies can also guide enterprises to focus on the development of information products with assistive functions. "We also hope that relevant institutions can regularly release some information on the needs of visually impaired users, especially information related to consumer terminal enterprises. ”