HP Innovation Journal Issue 13: Winter 2019 | Page 60

When the HP Office Printing Solutions team recently
relaunched HP’s multifunction printers to be more acces-
sible, features that improved voice control and screen
reading were on the top of the to-do list.
“If you don’t have a disability, you can walk up to the
printer, press ‘2,’ and make two copies pretty easily,” says
Sam Ogami, an accessibility program manager at HP.
“We want to make sure that if you’re visually impaired,
it’s still that easy.”
Simple design tweaks like increasing contrast, support-
ing keyboard navigation and writing alternative (alt) text
descriptions for people who can’t see images are all ways
to make sure websites can be consumed by everyone. Color
Oracle, a free color blindness simulator, is one tool that
lets web developers design for accessibility. Plus, accessible
websites are good for business: They reach a larger audi-
ence and create a better experience for all users.
Ogami and his colleagues at HP’s Office of Aging and
Accessibility evaluated the accessibility of the printers’
four main functions: print, scan, fax, and copy. Then, they
conducted user studies and tested solutions with people
with different types of disabilities. After listening to their
feedback, the team recently debuted a host of new printer
accessibility features for many of HP’s Enterprise class
printers and multifunction printers, including voice com-
mands to perform some tasks, a screen-reading feature
(both enabled with the addition of an optional accessory),
and a built-in screen-zoom feature.
“Designing for accessibility
from the beginning sends the
important message that users
with disabilities are more than
an afterthought.”
—MICHAEL ROHWER
Director at Business for Social Responsibility
Inclusive design also has the potential to inspire prod-
ucts used by millions of people across the globe. The
FingerWorks keyboard was a foldable piece of gesture-rec-
ognition technology developed by Wayne Westerman, who
was looking for a keyboard that didn’t aggravate his carpal
tunnel syndrome. In 2005, Apple bought the company
and integrated the FingerWorks system into its first-ever
iPhone, iterating on what would eventually become many
of the multi-touch features used on the products’ touch-
screens today.
While many employees with disabilities benefit from these
well-designed physical objects, making internet use more
accessible is also essential to the inclusive workplace.
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HP Innovation Journal Issue 13
Illustration by Abigail Goh
TECHNOLOGY THAT EQUIPS AND EMPOWERS
Inclusive technologies are already built into the phone in
your pocket and the computer you use at work. On video
upload sites like YouTube, for example, automatic closed
captioning transcribes your video’s sound instantly.