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Results and findings

Respondents were asked to select which hardware assistive technologies they use.

Google Home was the most popular technology used with 28.8% of respondents selecting it. Bluetooth keyboard was the second most popular hardware assistive technology used by 16.0% of respondents. A range of other smart speakers including Google Nest, Amazon Echo and Apple HomePod and HomePod mini was also mentioned.

This suggests that there is increasing use of voice-activated hardware like Google Home to support access to the internet and information. We also examined the relationship between the use of this hardware and the age of the respondents.

 

 

Hardware % Count Sample Size
Google Home 28.8% 330 1145
Bluetooth Keyboard 16.0% 183 1145
Google Nest Hub 7.4% 85 1145
Amazon Echo 6.4% 73 1145
Refreshable Braille display 5.2% 60 1145
Braille note-taker 3.9% 45 1145
Apple Home Pod 3.1% 36 1145
OrCam My Eye 3.1% 35 1145
Apple Home Pod Mini 2.4% 27 1145
Other 10.8% 124 1145
None of the above 47.9% 549 1145

Note: the above questions allowed multiple answer selection.

Smart Speakers were more commonly used by younger adults. Older adults with low vision and blindness potentially use voice activation, as they find most other technology difficult or frustrating to learn and use.

“If I can’t do it by voice, I can’t access the information without help from others.”

(90 – 99 years, low vision, QLD)

— Survey respondent

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Software assistive technologies and accessibility settings

This section asked respondents about the software used on their devices including magnification and screen reader software.