December 23rd, 2020
Michael Buholzer/AFP
For some of us, being forced to stay home and work remotely via video conferences was a temporary reprieve from our daily commute. But for Jonathan Lee, Zoom was a life changer. Lee, 28, is a paraplegic who uses walking aids to get around, and being able to rely on video calls greatly reduced the challenges involved in getting to school.
It’s not just the elimination of a commute that made his life easier. When he’s making his way to classes, it’s impossible for Lee to walk and text while gripping onto his crutches, and if he doesn’t have a headset he can’t easily hold his phone up to speak either. Even when he has headphones on, Lee said today’s speech recognition still isn’t accurate enough to rely on.