Speech & Language

Speech and language disabilities cover two related but different things. Speech disabilities affect the production of spoken language: stammering, dysarthria, mutism, post-laryngectomy voice loss, the speech effects of cerebral palsy or motor neurone disease. Language disabilities affect understanding or formulating language: aphasia (often after stroke), developmental language disorder, some forms of intellectual disability. They intersect but need different design responses.

The W3C's Speech and the web guidance covers how voice interfaces, voice authentication, video calling, and speech-dependent technology can exclude people who speak differently or not at all. Auto-captions and voice assistants struggle with atypical speech. Voice biometrics can lock people out of their own accounts. Live video with no text alternative excludes anyone who can't reliably use speech.

Offer a text alternative wherever voice input is required. Support real-time text and chat as a first-class alternative to voice calls. Don't make voice biometrics the only way to authenticate. Use plain language so aphasia and other comprehension differences don't shut people out.