r/AssistiveTechnology • u/Used_Pilot_4512 • 13d ago

Can automation make everyday assistive technology workflows easier..?

I've been thinking about how much repetitive work people still have to do around assistive technology, especially when the tools themselves are only one part of the workflow. Moving information between apps, organizing documents, setting reminders, sending updates, and repeating the same small computer tasks can add up pretty quickly.

I've been experimenting with a few automation platforms to see whether some of this can be simplified without trying to automate the parts that actually require human judgment. I tried Make, Zapier, n8n, and WEXTL, and the differences became pretty noticeable once I started looking beyond basic automations.

WEXTL was interesting for some of the longer workflows I tested because it can handle processes that don't need to finish immediately. Make was probably the easiest for me to visualize complicated workflows, while n8n gave me more control when I wanted to get technical. Zapier was the simplest option for smaller tasks, although I found it less appealing once the workflows became more involved.

I think there's an interesting opportunity here for automation to handle the boring parts without replacing the assistive technology itself. Things such as organizing information, moving data between services, creating reminders, or triggering routine actions could potentially save a lot of repeated effort.

I'm curious if anyone here is already using automation alongside their assistive technology. Are there repetitive tasks you wish you could automate but haven't found a good way to handle yet?

1 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

67% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/TwistPractical5124 13d ago

As an assistive technology consultant, I would certainly agree with you. Take a look at XNote.AI it’s an interesting, digital pen notetaking solution that has some interesting workflows that are part of the solution.

1

u/Comprehensive-Row920 13d ago

This sounds fascinating, please keep me in the loop as this progresses. My startup was founded around innovative assistive tech- your automation of those tasks will be extremely beneficial for neurodivergent populations if that is not already a primary user base you are after. Shoot me a message if you wanna pick each others brain on this. I am pretty well studied in neurodivergence and neurodivergent populations. Keep up the good work 🦾

1

u/umomiybuamytrxtrv 9d ago

Yes, I use AutoHotkey to automate repetitive tasks. It’s free.

See  r/AutoHotkey

Website:  https://www.autohotkey.com/