Empowering Divergent Thinking: AI as an Accessibility Tool

I grew up in a small Mississippi town where every grocery store trip was a reunion. You could get blessed by your priest on aisle two and a quick checkup from your doctor on aisle six. One of those recurring visits was with my first-grade teacher. She was frantically, but genuinely worried about my reading. After a few more grocery store chats between my mom and my teacher, I got tested, it turned out I was dyslexic - not an extreme spectrum but enough to notice. First grade wasn’t just a fun game of flashcards; it was a revealing moment that would shape my entire life.

Navigating the Spectrum

Being dyslexic in Mississippi was interesting. Most my teachers didn’t know what to do with me. I was high achieving but couldn’t write a clean paper to save my life. And getting through a summer reading list at the pace I got through books, forget about it. At one point I was walking from the special education room to the gifted program. It felt like PQs, BDs, and homophones were out to get me. People were qeoqle, bubbles were doodles. “There going to they’re home over their”. Well beyond the capability of spell check to catch.

But I wasn’t alone. Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder in children, and around 1 in 5 students in special education programs have it as their primary learning disability.

The Professional Hurdle

This is something I’ve had to work at for my entire life. Spending extra time reading through books and writing each word slowly to make sure I wasn’t going to embarrass myself. From school through my professional career as a reporter, my mom has received countless emails asking for a copy edit before I published anything.

Imagine getting an email at 10 pm to review a story about a drunk driver running off county road 10 and crashing into a bitch - not ditch. Publish that once, and readers have no problem calling you to offer to sympathy copy edit before the next paper. Bless your heart.

There’s no cure for dyslexia, no magic bullet that worked for me. Although it was always pitched as a superpower with many successful people thriving - Pablo Picasso, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, and Agatha Christie. Hell, Richard Branson built a whole thing around it. But still, I’ve always been a bit self-conscious.

Digital Evolution

When I, and the world, switched from working in print mediums to online formats, my concern for getting it right the first time was relieved. I was allowed to edit, reedit, delete, repost. Nothing is permanent online. All these little after adjustments to clean things up have been a lifesaver.

And as we know technology marches forward and the most exciting tool for me today, and a game changer for many folks with learning disability, generative AI. I know we are all aware of the environmental impact, brain rot, copyright concerns, etc. etc. But what we haven’t talked about much is the impact AI has as an accessibility tool.

The Impact in Numbers

Millions of adults deal with learning disabilities. Of course if 1 in 5 kids have a learning disability, 1 in 5 adults do as well. Apply that statistic to our customers:

• Over 210,000 paying customers means at least 42,000 users have a learning disability.
• Over 4,000 Cloudflare employees means at least 800 employees.

For me, using AI has allowed me to expedite those tedious processes that I struggle with. Summarizing long swaths of text, editing my work, and overall providing a sense of security that I previously only trusted my mom to give.

A More Inclusive Future

Our internal use of Gemini has quickly become my game changer. Since adopting this as a tool and opening the door to experimentation, Cloudflare has offered me a tool that can equalize the playing field for every use case we have applied it to.

Building gems for internal stakeholders to contribute to docs, adding support bots to our documentation, and enhancing dashboards with Cloudy is not just a trend to jump on the AI bandwagon and check the box. It’s a tool that opens the doors to divergent thinkers to not only take advantage of our products, but thrive in our work environments.

I am not dismissive of the negative impacts of AI. I am championing the use as someone who is empowered by these tools. As we continue to get requests for adding AI, my ask is that we be curious and see the potential. Let’s explore how these tools can empower all of our users to learn new skills, master our products, and overcome barriers to achievement.

For the sake of little Katies today, who struggle to keep up with mainstream thinking, lean in! By leaning into AI, we’re not just building a better product; we’re building a more inclusive and innovative company for everyone.