ABSTRACT
Health care consumers with disabilities often lack adequate access to diagnostic, therapeutic, and procedural health care devices and assistive technologies. In order to better understand accessibility and usability issues of these devices and technologies, a Web-based national consumer survey was developed, and it was completed by 408 individuals. Respondents ranked examination tables, radiology equipment, exercise and rehabilitation equipment, and weight scales as the top four most difficult categories of medical devices to use. The most prominent themes in the narrative data describing these difficulties were safety issues, positioning and comfort, patient transfer issues, visual displays and markings, and activities requiring fine motor movements.
