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The curb-cut phenomenon

Sidewalk Curb-Cut

In the mid-1970’s, curb-cuts started appearing on sidewalks in major cities. The idea was to make life a little easier for those traveling by wheelchair.  By 1990, the American’s with Disabilities act (ADA), requires that curb cuts be present on all sidewalks.  A curb cut is that area on the corner of your street where the sidewalk dips down to street level. Wheelchairs can more easily travel from sidewalk to street and back up to sidewalk.

Over the years, these curb-cuts have not only helped those using wheelchairs, but anyone who has ever pushed a stroller, a shopping cart, rollerbladed, biked, or somehow rolled along the sidewalk knows the convenience of not having to stop and figure out a way to get down off the curb onto the street and back up again. Though originally meant for people with disabilities, curb cuts have become beneficial to everyone who uses our public sidewalks and streets.

The curb-cut phenomenon refers to any technology originally intended for one particular group of users but ends up benefitting everyone. Voice recognition technology is another example of this. Orginally developed for those unable to use their arms and/or hands, this technology can be found in everything from cell phones to voice-responsive directory assistance.

Assistive technology programs such as those that speak a student textbook or reacts to a student’s voice and types a book report for them are becoming tools for students who aren’t dyslexic, dysgraphic or otherwise challenged. Students and those in the workplace are discovering that these programs are making life easier for everyone.

A college student with an overload of reading assignments can easily find many of their texts in digital format and use a reading program to listen to a text while they take notes.  When it comes time to type a term paper, using a voice recognition program allows a student to speak their thoughts while the computer types their words directly into a word processing program.

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