By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have disabilities that affect speech, specifically the ability to produce speech that other people (and machines) can understand. This includes conditions that may cause:
- Stuttering.
- Involuntary utterances, such as Tourette’s syndrome.
- Changes to the muscles required to produce speech, such as cerebral palsy.
- Difficulty or inability to utter specific sounds.
- Changes to the ability to vocalize words in the correct order.
Some conditions, such as certain brain injuries, anxiety, or hearing loss, may result in a temporary or long‑term loss of speech.
People with speech impairments have accessibility needs for any interface that relies on speech as an input device, including the ability to:
- Specify communication preferences that are alternatives to voice‑based communication.
- Control the interface and input data through methods other than speech.
From Horton, S., & Sloan, D. (2024). What Every Engineer Should Know About Digital Accessibility. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
Know About Accessibility 