An Easy Mode for Blindness

Last summer, a cousin of mine and I sat on the couch, talking about all sorts of things. When, inevitably, the topic of AI came up, I showed him Be My Eyes on my phone. I explained to him that tools like these are at our finger tips now whenever we want. We have Picture Smart AI in JAWS on our computers, we have Be My Eyes, Envision, Seeing AI or Aira on our phones and there are even smart glasses now that will interpret pictures for you. You can have anything you want read or explained, just by using one of these services. And that's in addition to the screen readers we already have had and that are continuing to improve.

"So, what you're telling me," my cousin jokingly said, "is that you're doing blindness on the easy mode." We both had a good laugh at that. The conversation flowed on, alternating between serious topics and good-natured jabs at one another, same as it always does.

After he left, though, the concept of an easy mode for blindness stayed with me. I turned it around and around in my head, examining it. It felt both ridiculous and compelling at the same time. Dealing with blindness is never easy and the idea that you can turn down the difficulty as if it were a game sounds preposterous. On the other hand, I myself keep telling people that it has never been easier to be blind. Not easy, mind you, never easy, but not as hard as it used to be.

In the last years, we've seen some fundamental breakthroughs in technology. Only 5 years ago, when I moved to the US for a couple of months, I learned the settings of my washer by heart, because it was just easier than trying to pull out my phone and fiddle with it until Seeing AI's direct reading mode could read what was on the display, if it even could, because it couldn't deal very well with icons at that point. Yesterday, I had Chat GPT's advanced voice mode with vision on while trying to use my new dryer, and it was like I was video calling with a sighted person. It was incredibly smooth and easy.

We cannot develop an easy mode for blindness or any other disability because such challenges are multifaceted and deeply personal. Disabilities vary widely between individuals, and no single solution can address every unique need or circumstance. Moreover, achieving meaningful progress requires the combined efforts of society, from technological advancements to increased awareness and inclusivity, rather than relying solely on individual companies or innovators. We can all contribute our little piece, though.? We're all part of society, after all.

For me, that's easy. I work in the accessibility industry and develop products to make it easier to use the computer. Apart from doing my job, however, I make it a point to always answer people's questions. This might not sound like much, but almost anyone with a disability will tell you that this is hard, tiring work. I once had to explain to someone at the supermarket that I was able to put something in the freezer by myself. He kept asking how. "Well," I said, "you open the door to the freezer, you put it in, and you close the door again." His mind was blown. I'm not kidding. Most questions you get are not quite as comedic as this one, but the questions are similar. How do you do something when you're blind? People close their eyes and cannot imagine doing their work, cooking, cleaning or doing any other task if they can't see. Taking away some of that mystery is one of the most powerful things you can do. It helps clarify the everyday challenges of blindness and fosters understanding. This connection encourages others to participate in making life more accessible, contributing to the broader idea of creating an 'easy mode' for blindness through collective effort.

After they get to know me, many people tell me that my blindness fades to the background. That they regularly forget I'm blind. In the meantime, however, they don't stop doing things that make my life a tiny bit easier. They tell me if the trash can has been moved. They'll warn me of obstacles in my way. Some even narrate what's happening on videos, creating a sort of live audio description. I think it bears repeating that these people say they forget I'm blind. Not only that, but they don't hesitate to ask questions anymore, even if they did when we just met. This means that they can actually help in ways that I need, rather than in ways that they assume I need. This shift in perception and interaction reflects a broader societal role in creating an 'easy mode' for blindness. By asking and understanding instead of assuming, they contribute to a more inclusive and supportive environment, where assistance is meaningful and respectful of individual autonomy.

Meanwhile, tech will do as tech does, improving at an exponential rate. We need to stay vigilant and make sure that the improvements made are inclusive. We need to make sure that mainstream products are accessible. Where we need our own tailor-made solution, we need to build them and make them as good as possible, closing any possible gap between sighted and blind people.?More and more will become possible as tech matures further. Picture description is already widely used in our community, I'm sure that the same will happen with real-time vision. AI's capabilities are growing by the day, other use-cases will certainly be discovered as time goes on.

We will not develop an easy mode for blindness, but we will inch closer and closer to it. I can't wait to see what that will look like, and I can't wait to participate in making it happen. Here's to a successful 2025, with as much, or more progress than the considerable gains we made last year.