Global Accessibility Pulse 2026 - Mike Mello LONG

Mike Mello, Lead Accessibility Program Manager, Android Business Communication at Google, USA answers GAAD co-founder Jennison Asuncion’s question “Is the internet more accessible than it was 10 years ago?” for the Global Accessibility Pulse 2026 for GAAD and Intopia.

Transcript:
Title card & voiceover: Mike Mello, Lead Accessibility Program Manager, Android Business Communication, Google, USA, contributes to the Global Accessibility Pulse 2026 for GAAD and Intopia.

Mike Mello: Hello everyone and welcome to Global Accessibility Awareness Day. My name is Mike Mello. I am an accessibility Program Manager here at Google, working on the Android Business Communication team.

So has the internet become more or less accessible over the last 10 years? Alright, 10 years ago was what?2016? I don't know what we were doing 2016. I don't know what I was doing in 2016, but I know that the internet was definitely less accessible because now we have tools that can provide us on-demand content descriptions.

I can put this video into Gemini and find out if I have used correct lighting or if the framing is acceptable, and I don't need assistance to do that. I can co-browse a website with an AI tool and have it take actions on my behalf for inaccessible elements.

Now, you might be saying, “But Mike, doesn't that mean that the internet isn't as accessible?” Well, I don't know. It just means that I can access it now and I wasn't able to before.

Has it really changed that much over 10 years? Yes. I think we've had a lot of development around web apps and other areas of the internet that are more complicated, but the underlying issues of content and accessibility are relatively the same.

I think that the main issue, though, is how do we access that, and what tools exist to help us get there? And for me at least, I think having access to advanced AI tools and updated screen reading technology has really made this experience so much better for me.

End card & voiceover: Watch all the responses to the Global Accessibility Pulse 2026 at https://intopia.digital-global-accessibility-pulse-2026.

Видео Global Accessibility Pulse 2026 - Mike Mello LONG канала Intopia