As one of the world’s most innovative companies, Google’s support in sponsoring the Disability Power 100 this year underscores a shared commitment to elevating voices and breaking down barriers. Hear below from Chrisopher Patnoe, Head of EMEA Accessibility and Disability Inclusion, on his journey into assistive technology and accessibility.
Accidental Beginnings and Finding Purpose
“I fell into my work into sister technology essentially by accident. I was the lead technical program manager for Google Play music and we had a test engineer, Karo Caran, came into our meeting and when it was her turn, she enabled VoiceOver on her iPhone.
“Button… button… button… button…button,” is what I heard.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“That’s Google Play Music for someone who’s blind.” replied Karo.
“How do they do use it?”
“They don’t, that’s why I’m here.”
That was my introduction to accessibility. I never thought about disability before then, I never thought about accessibility ever, but I couldn’t look away and so I stayed curious about the problems and excited about the opportunities. I think Karo was my first role model. She is blind herself and her husband, Victor, is blind as well. They took pity on me, they taught me with great humour and affection and gave me permission to ask the dumb questions that we all ask when we’re first getting started.
From that moment, Christopher’s curiosity about accessibility was sparked, and he dove headfirst into learning about assistive technology. Karo, who is blind, became one of his first role models, guiding him with patience and humor as he learned about the barriers faced by people with disabilities.
“I hired her to join my team in Play Music as I volunteered to take on accessibility for the Google Play suite of products. It was a scary time where I made many mistakes, some of which make me cringe to remember, but through their guidance I learned that a mistake made with honest intention is much more easily forgiven than one made in fear.”
Google’s Vision for Accessibility
Today, accessibility is not only a core value but a foundational aspect of Google’s product development process. The company has made it a priority to ensure accessibility is considered from the earliest stages of design, embedding it into all of their products.
“We are committed to making accessibility a core consideration from the earliest stages of product design through release. Our central accessibility team has a mandate to monitor the state of accessibility of Google products and coordinate accessibility training, testing, and consulting. Product teams are offered training to help incorporate accessibility principles into the design and release of products. We also strive to cultivate relationships with a variety of users and advocacy groups to solicit feedback.”
Christopher reflects on a quote from Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google “When we say we want to build for everyone – we mean it. Accessibility is written into our mission statement and core to our values as a company. We don’t think a problem is solved until we’ve solved it for everyone. Technology’s great promise is to give everyone the same power to achieve their goals. As long as there are barriers for some, there’s still work to be done.“
This commitment is also reflected in Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centres (ADC), physical spaces dedicated to promoting inclusion and accessibility. Starting with the London ADC in December 2022, Google has expanded the initiative across EMEA,
with additional centres opening in Dublin, Zurich, Dubai, Munich all open today and Paris and Milan opening by the end of 2024.
“Plans are also in motion to bring these centres to emerging markets next year. Christopher says, “We want to build with and for people, never just for.”
Christopher shares that the ADCs have become hubs for collaboration, bringing together business partners, advocacy groups, charities, schools, universities, and individuals to discuss how to make products and cultures more inclusive. He adds, “We discuss inclusive design, inclusive innovation, progress over perfection and how these ideas can be applied to a culture as well as their products. In fact, the more diverse a work culture is, the more inclusive their products will be as well.”
Tech Advancements for Accessibility in the Last Five Years
The past five years have seen significant advances in making technology more accessible, with inclusive design emerging as a critical approach to meeting the diverse needs of users.
“Inclusive Design has become more and more recognised as one of the most important ways of making products that meet the needs of the broadest audience. Inclusion means ability, of course, but we’re starting to look more deeply into other aspects of inclusion such as language, culture, etc. To this point, we’ve made a concerted effort to become more engaged in emerging markets.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has played a crucial role in these innovations. Since 2009, Google has used AI for automated captioning in YouTube, and today, tools like Live Transcribe and Lookout are transforming the way people interact with technology. Live Transcribe uses Automatic Speech Recognition to provide real-time transcription, and Lookout leverages AI to describe the world through images for people who are blind or have low vision.
Christopher is particularly excited about how AI is being integrated into popular platforms like Chrome and Android. These tools now enable users to receive captions for videos and alternative text for images—features that weren’t always available but are now integral parts of the digital experience. For example, these integrations allow your devices to provide captions for videos that didn’t include them as well as provide Alternative Text for images that don’t include them.
Christopher explains, “This allows these platforms to help anyone who might need some help when a creator doesn’t add these features and just as importantly, it allows for new interactions with content like videos and pictures that are sent to you, which are almost never captioned or provided with descriptions.”
The Future of Assistive Tech
Looking to the future, Christopher is particularly intrigued by the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) and AI-powered wearable technologies.
“For me the ‘wearable’ form factor really will be a game changer for assistive tech. Today one needs to hold their phone out and that puts a critical tool at risk. Wearing the “interface”, be it visual or auditory, will allow one to keep their phone safely tucked away and still have access to and the ability to interact with their devices.”
While AR glasses such as Xander Glasses, XRAI, and HearView are already available, Christopher is excited about advancements with Meta’s Smart Glasses, which feature cameras and AI integration. These glasses allow for a deeper understanding of the environment, providing a more immersive experience for users who rely on assistive technologies.
“Having a camera, along with multimodal understanding of live video, will allow entirely new uses and interactions – and this is what I’ve been waiting for for many years. There’s a lot of work to be done to make sure that all of these integrations are disability-focused but we’re off to an exciting start.”
Christopher goes on to say, “Awareness is one of the greatest challenges for those of us making accessible technologies. If someone doesn’t know about a tool that would be helpful, it will never serve its purpose.”
To try to compensate for this, Google have two quarterly updates that go out – one via email (signup form) and the other gets published to their YouTube Google Accessibility playlist.
Historical Figures and the DP100
As for who Christopher would nominate for the Disability Power 100, his choice is: Henry Cavendish, the pioneering scientist often thought to have had austism.
“I learned about him and his spectacular innovations when reading the book NeuroTribes.”
His page on Wikipedia describes Cavendish as:
‘A shy man, Cavendish was distinguished for great accuracy and precision in his researches into the composition of atmospheric air, the properties of different gases, the synthesis of water, the law governing electrical attraction and repulsion, a mechanical theory of heat, and calculations of the density (and hence the mass) of the Earth. His experiment to measure the density of the Earth (which, in turn, allows the gravitational constant to be calculated) has come to be known as the Cavendish experiment.”
Christopher goes on to highlight the description of Cavendish, “Shy man, such a description!” he adds, “Later in this article, he was also called “asocial and secretive”. Many modern disability scholars look at his accomplishments, precise methods, and behaviours and the general consensus is that he was likely autistic. He was unwilling to talk about his own work, but had he, he could have been one of the most respected scientists in the UK, if not the world.”
Christopher’s nomination of Cavendish reflects a broader commitment to recognising the untold contributions of individuals with disabilities—past and present.