Role of artificial intelligence and big data in accelerating accessibility for persons with disabilities

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data have emerged into mainstream tools from being niche tools in the recent past. These technological improvements have changed the manner in which software tools are designed and have provided unprecedented benefits to the users. This article analyses the impact of both of these technologies through the lens of accessibility computing which is a sub-domain of human- computer interaction. The rationales for incorporating accessibility for persons with disabilities in the digital ecosystem are illustrated. This article proposes a key term `perception porting' which is aimed towards converting of data suitable for one sense through another with the help of AI and big data. The specific tools and techniques that are available to assist persons with specific disabilities such as smart vision, smart exoskeletons, captioning techniques and Internet of Things-based solutions are explored.