Blind and Partially Sighted People Face New AI Challenges: Advocates Call for Inclusive Design

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its associated technologies are transforming industries and daily life, yet blind and partially sighted individuals are being left behind, according to Tom Pey, the new president of the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC). His stark warning underscores the need for inclusive design across emerging technologies like AI agents, video games, and wearable devices.

The Growing Divide

Pey highlighted how existing challenges faced by blind children are now exacerbated by exclusion from technologies heavily reliant on visual interfaces. “They’re distanced from their non-disabled peers,” Pey remarked, “because [their peers] can experience games, alternative realities, and AI-driven visual types of technology.”

Having lost his sight as a child, Pey is an experienced advocate for accessible technology. He developed the Waymap app, which provides step-by-step audio navigation to support people with sight loss. Despite advances, he argues that much of today’s AI hardware remains visually oriented, neglecting the needs of the blind and visually impaired.

Pey has urged Peter Kyle, the UK’s technology secretary, to legislate for inclusive technology design. He called on companies to embrace accessibility as a priority rather than an afterthought.

“If we look at the hardware around AI, a lot of it is visual,” Pey stated, “and it ignores the needs of blind people.” He noted that this exclusion extends beyond blindness to people who struggle with interpreting visual information, emphasizing the pressing need for inclusive design principles.

Research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) highlights the digital exclusion faced by blind and partially sighted individuals:

• Blind people are less likely to use the internet daily compared to the general population.
• They are also more likely to lack access to smartphones or other digital devices.

However, the RNIB also found signs of progress, with digital exclusion for this group decreasing as accessible technologies emerge.

AI Technology Making Strides in Accessibility

While significant gaps remain, major tech companies like Google, Meta, and OpenAI are working on solutions to help blind and partially sighted individuals interact with AI-driven tools:

1. Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

   • Meta has launched glasses that enable wearers to connect with sighted volunteers. These volunteers, seeing through the glasses’ lens, provide real-time descriptions of the user's surroundings.

2. OpenAI’s Virtual Volunteer

   • Using ChatGPT-4, OpenAI has collaborated with the Be My Eyes app to provide audio descriptions. For instance, the system can describe objects in a user’s fridge and answer related questions.

3. Google Lookout App

   • Google’s Lookout app assists users with low vision by reading texts, audio-describing images, and engaging in interactive Q&A sessions.

These initiatives show promise, but advocates argue they still fall short of bridging the widening experiential gap between sighted and non-sighted users.

The Road Ahead

Pey emphasized that young blind people are particularly affected by this disparity. The ability to participate in gaming, alternative realities, and other visually driven technologies is becoming a cornerstone of social interaction. Blind individuals, however, find themselves excluded from these experiences.

“This is a new level of discrimination,” Pey said, “which could be avoided by upfront thinking.” He stressed the importance of designing technologies with disabled people in mind from the outset, rather than adapting them retroactively.

To ensure equitable access, Pey and other advocates are calling for more robust action:

• Policy Changes: Governments must legislate to mandate inclusivity in tech development.
• Corporate Responsibility: Companies need to prioritize accessibility in product design.
• Awareness Campaigns: Educating designers and developers about the needs of disabled users is critical.

Inclusion in AI-driven technologies not only empowers blind individuals but also enriches society as a whole by fostering diversity and innovation.

As Pey aptly concluded, “The designers need to just wake up to the fact that they should design for disabled people.”

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