Access and Independence, But at What Cost?
Maria Town
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Association of People with Disabilities
Technology creates opportunities for people with disabilities. Full stop. Some technologies, like automated captioning, screen readers, and augmented or alternative communication devices are often used as reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, opening up opportunities for gainful employment, quality healthcare, and community connection. Some tech companies claim that some of their products, like AI glasses and virtual assistants, are “life changing” or even “magical” for people with disabilities because of the increased independence and ease of access they can facilitate.[1] However, with the recognition of the benefits for disabled people, and the frequent representation of disabled people in their advertisements and marketing, tech companies often fail to consider privacy protections for these very users. Further, while they are happy to feature people with disabilities in their commercials and their user testing, tech companies hire very few disabled people to design, engineer, program, or govern these tools ourselves, denying us opportunities that could truly increase access, independence, and economic security.[2]
While tools like virtual assistants and AI glasses are available for use by anyone, some of the applications that these tools connect to in order to facilitate greater independence are used almost exclusively by people with disabilities. Many apps that facilitate navigation services for blind or low-vision people and some wearable technologies for people who are Deaf collect sensitive data from their users in order to be effective. Users are oftentimes not provided information about what the companies that create and sell these technologies do with the information that they collect, including whether they sell it to third parties.[3] Users who are provided with this sort of information rarely receive it in plain language, which can make it even more difficult for people with certain disabilities to understand privacy practices.[4]
Companies may offer “opt out” choices to users, which users may choose to engage when interacting with sensitive information or activities. But disabled people who are using these technologies in healthcare settings to fluently read prescription medicines, accurately communicate confidential information, or confidently monitor symptoms may not feel like they can safely opt out. In fact, the reverse may be true, wherein the higher-stakes the interaction, the more a disabled person may want to rely on their technology, even if it compromises their privacy. These privacy tradeoffs put people with disabilities in a difficult position where they must choose whether to protect their privacy or access the services and technologies that they need to live an accessible and independent life. With that, I must wonder: these technologies offer access and independence, but at what cost?
Technology has also transformed the workplace. From the types of jobs available, where and how those jobs can be done, the types of tasks one can complete independently, to the ways one can communicate daily, technology has specifically moved career ambitions that used to be out of reach for disabled people into the realm of possibility. Even with these enormous shifts in how work is accomplished, less than 23% of working-aged adults with disabilities were employed in 2025.[5] Further, working-age adults with disabilities experience poverty at twice the rate of non-disabled adults.[6]
Within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, the disability employment numbers are even worse: according to the National Science Foundation, only 3% of the STEM workforce are people with disabilities, and this number has not changed in the past decade.[7] Given that most Americans will experience a disability at some point during their lives,[8] increasing the employment of people with disabilities in STEM fields should be a matter of national importance. If we want better research, better products, and better solutions, we need more disabled people in STEM.
The lack of hiring of disabled people in the tech industry is not just an issue of limited career options, but also represents a potential long-term barrier to increasing disabled people’s economic security. The tech industry is poised to grow by more than 8% over the next 10 years, far outpacing the growth of non-STEM fields.[9] Additionally, employment in the tech industry offers substantial economic opportunity: the median annual wage in the tech industry was $105,990 in May 2024, more than twice the median annual wage for all other occupations.[10] If the current trend of limited hiring of disabled people persists, the financial stability and security of people with disabilities will continue to erode.
This lack of opportunity is especially concerning as people with disabilities experience significant occupational segregation and are over-represented in low-wage occupations that are among the highest risk for automation, such as sales, office support, service occupations, production, transportation, and material-moving occupations.[11] The very tools and technologies that have the ability and potential to increase independence, quality of life, and opportunities for disabled people may also cause the very few job opportunities available to us to vanish. Again, I ask: access and independence, but at what cost?
[1] Tom Whipple, “Sceptical of Meta Glasses? They’re ‘Magical’ if You’re Blind,” The Times (Dec. 25, 2025). https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/meta-glasses-visual-impairment-audio-description-ai-0pvtczdsq.
[2] Stack Overflow, “2022 Developer Survey,” (June 22, 2022), https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2022#developer-profile-demographics.
[3] Emile Ayoub and Elizabeth Goitein, “Closing the Data Broker Loophole,” The Brennan Center for Justice (Feb. 13, 2024), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/closing-data-broker-loophole.
[4] Joel R. Reidenberg, Jaspreet Bhatia, Travis Breaux, and Thomas Norton, “Ambiguity in Privacy Policies and the Impact of Regulation.” Journal of Legal Studies (March 22, 2016), https://ssrn.com/abstract=2715164.
[5] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “People with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics — 2025.” US Department of Labor (March 3, 2026), www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf.
[6] Patrick Drake and Alice Burns, “Working-Age Adults with Disabilities Living in the Community,” KFF (Jan. 4, 2024), https://www.kff.org/medicaid/working-age-adults-with-disabilities-living-in-the-community/.
[7] Lenore K. Pedicord, “NSF Supports Efforts to Emphasize the Ability in ‘Disability’,” US National Science Foundation (Oct. 24, 2024), https://www.nsf.gov/science-matters/nsf-supports-efforts-emphasize-ability-disability.
[8] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Disability and Health Overview,” (April 2, 2025), https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and-health/about/.
[9] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The Economics Daily: Numbers, Research, and Discovery: STEM Employment Projected to Take Off!” US Department of Labor (Dec. 9, 2025), https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/numbers-research-and-discovery-stem-employment-projected-to-take-off.htm
[10] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Computer and Information Technology Occupations,” US Department of Labor (Aug. 28, 2025), https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/.
[11] Taylor M. Shockey, Kelsie Fox, Guixiang Zhao, and NaTasha Hollis, “Prevalence of Disability by Occupation Group — United States, 2016–2020,” US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (May 19, 2023), http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7220a1.
Maria Town is the President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. In this role, she works to increase the political and economic power of people with disabilities. Town previously served as Director of the City of Houston Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, advocating for citizens with disabilities. Town also was the Senior Associate Director in the Obama White House Office of Public Engagement, managing disability community engagement and coordinating federal engagement. Town has expertise in areas of youth development, leadership, and promoting college and career readiness.