Market trends
COVID-19 led to a growing recognition worldwide about the importance of making digital content accessible to all. The market
for screen readers is poised for growth due to:
- Enabling country policies: Several countries and regional entities (e.g., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the European Union,
India, Japan, Kenya, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America) have enacted accessibility laws to
ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to digital content and services or included this within their disability
or anti-discrimination regulations.
- Growing need: The high prevalence of vision loss blindness is a significant factor driving market growth. Additionally, the
expanding ageing populations, associated with various vision-related disorders, contributes to the demand for screen readers.
- Artificial intelligence (AI): Advances in machine learning and AI have enhanced screen reader capabilities, improving accuracy
and flexibility in response to evolving digital content forms. There may be increased demand for screen readers with AI capabilities
that allow users to customize their experience.
- Increased multi-modal communication: One report indicates that screen- reader manufacturers are becoming more interested in
multimodal interaction and haptic feedback (also called kinaesthetic communication or 3D-touch) technology. Improving the user experience can entail combining several sensory inputs such as haptic feedback, touch gestures, and voice
commands.
- Seamless integration: There is likely to be significant gain from screen readers to seamlessly integrate with different smart
devices (wearables, home systems etc.) along with each other as many users report using multiple screen reader software across
different devices (laptops, tablets, mobile phones) or applications (digital documents, e-books, web browsing, financial services
etc.).
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