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accessHealthNews.net
November 2021
Volume 8 | Issue No. 51
R
ecently, Mental Health America hosted a
webinar, "Building Equity in Technology,"
highlighting Microsoft's AI for Accessibility
program and focusing on the impacts
technology has on the lives of those who
are disabled or suffering from mental illness,
particularly in Black communities. Speakers
included Wendy Chisholm, principal
accessibility architect for Microsoft, Dr.
Desmond Upton Patton, associate professor
of social work and sociology at the Columbia
School of Social Work, and Theresa Nguyen,
LCSW, chief program officer and vice president
of research and innovation at Mental Health
America.
AI for Accessibility was created to fund and
support the development of AI tools that
empower people living with disabilities. The
program is one of five under Microsoft's AI
for Good initiative. "All of these programs are
working to give resources and support and
platforms to people who are doing really good
stuff in the world," Chisholm said.
Inclusive AI for individuals with disabilities
AI for Accessibility announced its five-year plan
to shift the 'Disability Divide.' "It's this gap in
inclusion for people with disabilities," Chisholm
explained. "Before the pandemic, in the United
States, the employment rate for people with
disabilities was half that for people without."
The number of people living with disabilities is
also growing, adding urgency to the matter.
"The biggest issue is just the lack of data, and
the biases we see in the data that we do
have," said Chisholm. "People with disabilities
are underemployed, and therefore they are
underrepresented in employment data. And
then, when you train algorithms on that data,
those algorithms are going to be biased."
To address this hazard, Chisholm and AI for
Accessibility search for candidates to fund
who will create inclusive datasets and models,
especially for people with disabilities. Chisholm
observed that initiatives and systems built by
and for people with disabilities often lead to
innovations that benefit everyone, giving the
example of OXO Good Grips, kitchen utensils
designed by a woman with arthritis which are
easier for everyone to use. "And that's often
what you see in innovations for people with
disabilities. Really, it can impact all of us."
"People with disabilities are underemployed, and
therefore they are underrepresented in employment
data. And then, when you train algorithms on that data,
those algorithms are going to be biased."
