In a mere week and a half, I and three other classmates will have the pleasure of leading a class period focused on visual impairments and some specific information and communication technologies designed to provide accessibility to this those that suffer from these impairments. This has naturally, prompted research, reading, and stress. Yet what it has also prompted is Accessibility Technology Overload, or for short, ATO (could I really be called an information professional if I didn't shorten this down to an acronym?).
What is ATO? Well, it is that feeling of shortness of breath, tightening of stomach, sweating of palms, of perplexity, frustration, and eventually a waving of hands and shouting I give up, that comes on after a spell of research is done on technologies for accessibility. It is caused by the overwhelming quantity of accessibility products out there, the nearly limitless number of features these products offer, the wonderful but also exasperating specificity of those limitless features, the only exasperating and not at all wonderful compatibility issues that arise when examining these technologies, and finally, by the desire and need to learn as many of these technologies as possible. ATO is truly a problem.
But, it is a good problem. Although I do not enjoy it symptoms, it is terribly exciting that their are so many options for accessibility that do so many different things and can help so many different people. Although I prefer my palms dry, the fact that ATO even exists is a sign that we are headed in the right direction as a society in regards to accessibility and although I prefer my stomach and lungs relaxed, this is a form of overload I will eagerly accept.
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