Assistive Technologies in Implementing Barrier-Free and Accessible Digital Environment

The basic concepts of barrier-free and accessibility of the digital environment are given. The most vulnerable is those with visual disabilities (visually impaired and blind). Assistance tools are designed to maintain the same level or increase the functionality and autonomy of a given group of people, thereby contributing to their well-being. Assistant technologies are described: braille display, on-screen keyboard, voice control, magnifying glass. Focused on screen readers. Described is a schematic diagram of operation of programs reading from a screen of digital devices, which includes a control device through a keyboard, a digital point-contact, a voice control unit, a translator program, a screen reader, a voice synthesizer, a braille message output unit, and an audio information output unit. The screen reader was analyzed: NVDA, Narrator, TalkBack, VoiceOver, JAWS. The functionality of software applications is described. Recommendations are given on the use of software products for persons with visual disabilities. Most of the software is open source and free, which is one of the advantages. When selecting and using the best screen reader program, you should first of all take into account the platform, the working environment and consider the purpose of using the selected software product.