compliance just hasn't kept up with the times. We think about other laws that have been put into place um back some years ago that have literally allowed society to put people with disabilities into institutions. And so because of that people aren't thinking about us, they aren't thinking about us as consumers, they aren't thinking about us as positive representation because to them, we need to be eliminated.

Web accessibility became a hot topic after Domino's Pizza asked the supreme court to review a case involving a blind customer. Guillermo Robles sued the restaurant in 2016 after he wasn't able to order a custom Domino's pizza online, even with screen reading technology. The appeals court in the 9th circuit sided with Robles ruling the A.D.A. does in fact apply to apps and websites of businesses with physical locations.

The supreme court declined to hear the case in 2019 meaning the lower court's decision stands. So, while the courts have ruled that the internet is covered under the A.D.A. it's typically up to us to report any issues. Experts say there isn't enough accountability at higher levels to make sure digital information from federal departments and agencies is fully accessible. This includes information on important processes like voter registration or covid19 data.

Accessibility challenges have also forced streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu to rethink how they show content. In 2016 and 2017 after being called out by the American Council of the Blind, Netflix and Hulu said they would add audio description, so that blind and visually impaired people can better understand what's happening in a show or movie. Both companies also said they would make their sites and apps accessible through screen readers.

Thankfully more organizations are stepping up to promote digital accessibility. There's actually an entire event dedicated to this in May called global accessibility awareness day. Jenison Asuncion is GAAD's co-founder. The purpose of GAAD was really to get your everyday developer, designer, product manager to spend some part of that day thinking about, learning about, discussing all aspects of digital access and inclusion for the over one billion people with different disabilities or impairments.

To celebrate global accessibility awareness day's 10th anniversary this year the co-founders are launching the GAAD foundation. Which includes a series of initiatives designed to incorporate accessibility into products and services. What we are doing and what we will do is create a platform for the average designer, developer to just go online and immediately connect with someone with a disability or impairment. And just have that conversation; 'Hey what do you do to use the internet? What do you do to use the mobile app? what assistive technology do you use?' and just have that open conversation.

The internet has also opened the door for people to share their thoughts struggles and experiences through blogs and social media just like Zack does on YouTube. This shows just how important it is to make sure these platforms are fully accessible to everyone. What most people would consider a convenience becomes actually kind of life-changing for someone like me. It makes it so I can spend less time on logistics and more time just living my life.

Thank you so much for watching. If you want to learn more about tech and accessibility visit cnet.com where we just kicked off this year's series of tech enabled stories linked in the description below. Also, be sure to like and subscribe to cnet for more on all things tech. And finally follow me on twitter at @al-heeti_3. See you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhen you have a disability your life often moves faster than your body does.  This is Zach Anner, he's a comedian host and writer and he recently started doing tech reviews on YouTube.As someone with cerebral palsy, he's making these videos to show just how important  tech can be for people with disabilities. But there are many people with disabilities who  aren't able to use tech that many of us take for granted. I'm Abrar Al-Heeti and we'll be exploring  just how accessible apps and modern technology really are; and what can be done to improve them.Just about every element of our lives takes place online now, from where we shop, to what  we watch, to how we communicate. But for people with disabilities these everyday tasks can be  especially difficult when platforms and services aren't designed with their needs in mind.  Accessibility isn't always top of mind for developers or engineers which is why it's often  overlooked. Twitter recently faced backlash when it launched its voice tweets feature. People in the  disability community were quick to point out that it didn't have closed captioning, so people who are  deaf or hard of hearing couldn't use it. Twitter later said it would add transcriptions but that  was only after people called it out. When you're thinking about uh introducing like a new product  category or feature it's just like get the feedback from the disability community first and  not like an afterthought. People with disabilities often worry about whether they'll be able to use  new devices and features. When the first iphone came out in 2007 its functions weren't fully  accessible to everyone including people who are blind. It wasn't until the iPhone 3Gs came out  two years later that apple introduced voiceover. A screen reading technology that's part of iOS.Now people who are blind can more easily check their calendars send emails and follow maps.  Outlook email body multi-line text field google has also been working to make its products more  accessible. Some of the apps it's recently launched include sound amplifier and live transcribe. Which  help people who are deaf or hard of hearing follow a conversation. There's also the lookout app, which  helps people who are blind or visually impaired use their phone's camera to read food labels  find objects around a room or scan documents and money. Kind minis caramel almond and sea  salt minus 0.7 ounce. Wearables like smart watches are also incorporating accessibility , google recently launched a feature called sound notifications which alerts people with hearing  loss about critical household sounds like dogs barking appliances beeping or water running. Still  many companies haven't put as much effort into making their products and services more inclusive . Overlooking accessible design from the start shuts millions of people out. To me tech is the most  exciting uh area because there's so much that you can do around accessibility to create  universal access for people. Tatiana Lee is an actress model and activist with spina bifida,  meaning her spine and spinal cord didn't form properly at birth. She says when she  was born the hospital and doctors asked her mom if she wanted to institutionalize her.  Thankfully her mom said no but many other parents took that option. Where we need to get to is this  idea of people with disabilities being a part of a social model and the social model is there's  nothing wrong with people with disabilities the problem is the lack of accessibility and access  that is a burden on the person with a disability to be able to fully live out their lives.  Americans with disabilities are nearly three times as likely to never go online.  They're also around 20 percent less likely to subscribe to home broadband and own a computer  smartphone or tablet. A whopping 98% of us websites aren't fully accessible and you may be thinking if  so many americans are being left out why haven't lawmakers tackled the issue? Well it's a bit more  complicated than just passing legislation when the americans with disabilities act was passed in 1990  it helped make physical spaces more accessible by requiring accommodations like wheelchair ramps and  elevators. But it hasn't been as effective at making digital spaces more accessible. That's because so much has changed since the law was passed. 30 years ago we didn't have  smartphones or widespread access to computers we didn't rely on the internet to handle everyday  tasks the way we do now. Digital accessibility compliance just hasn't kept up with the times.  We think about other laws that have been put into place um back some years ago that have literally  allowed society to put people with disabilities into institutions. And so because of that people  aren't thinking about us, they aren't thinking about us as consumers, they aren't thinking about  us as positive representation because to them, we need to be eliminated. Web accessibility became a  hot topic after Domino's Pizza asked the supreme court to review a case involving a blind customer.  Guillermo Robles sued the restaurant in 2016 after he wasn't able to order a custom Domino's pizza  online, even with screen reading technology. The appeals court in the 9th circuit sided with Robles  ruling the A.D.A. does in fact apply to apps and websites of businesses with physical locations.  The supreme court declined to hear the case in 2019 meaning the lower court's decision stands.So, while the courts have ruled that the internet is covered under the A.D.A.  it's typically up to us to report any issues. Experts say there isn't enough accountability at  higher levels to make sure digital information from federal departments and agencies is fully  accessible. This includes information on important processes like voter registration or covid19 data.  Accessibility challenges have also forced streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu  to rethink how they show content. In 2016 and 2017 after being called out by the American  Council of the Blind, Netflix and Hulu said they would add audio description, so that  blind and visually impaired people can better understand what's happening in a show or movie.  Both companies also said they would make their sites and apps accessible through screen readers.  Thankfully more organizations are stepping up to promote digital accessibility.  There's actually an entire event dedicated to this in may called global accessibility awareness day. Jenison Asuncion is GAAD's co-founder. The purpose of GAAD was really to get your everyday  developer, designer, product manager to spend some part of that day  thinking about, learning about, discussing uh all aspects of digital access and inclusion  for the over one billion people with different disabilities or impairments.  To celebrate global accessibility awareness day's 10th anniversary this year the co-founders are  launching the GAAD foundation. Which includes a series of initiatives designed to incorporate  accessibility into products and services. What we are doing and what we will do is create a platform  for the average designer, developer to justgo online and immediately connect with  someone with a disability or impairment. And just have that conversation; 'Hey what do you do to  use the internet? What do you do to use the mobile app? what assistive technology do you use?' and just  have that open conversation. The internet has also opened the door for people to share their thoughts  struggles and experiences through blogs and social media just like Zack does on YouTube.  This shows just how important it is to make sure these platforms are fully accessible to everyone.  What most people would consider a convenience becomes actually kind of life-changing for someone  like me. It makes it so i can spend less time on logistics and more time just living my life.  Thank you so much for watching. If you want to learn more about tech and accessibility visit  cnet.com where we just kicked off this year's series of tech enabled stories linked in the  description below. Also, be sure to like and subscribe to cnet for more on all things tech.  And finally follow me on twitter at @al-heeti_3. See you.\n"