Plenty of situations exist in which people with disabilities need help from others--for example, help with interpreting the meaning of some information. Until recently, friends and family or, sometimes, paid experts were the main providers of such help.

The authors of this article show how, with the emergence of crowdsourcing, various systems can now help disabled individuals receive a fast answer at a low cost. One of this article’s greatest strengths is that it summarizes the functionalities of some of the already-developed applications in this field.

Self-work is represented by the VizWiz iPhone app, which helps blind users find answers to questions related to selected images. Workers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk respond in less than 30 seconds, at a cost of less than seven cents.

Going a step further, the article concentrates on the design of crowdsourcing-based systems concerning privacy and anonymity. Such systems should: ensure confidentiality through codes and privacy rules; address worker competence, including specific certifications for workers; have an acceptable latency; provide accurate answers; help users make informed decisions through feedback; and build on simple and easy-to-use interfaces.

To conclude, by offering an overview of how crowdsourcing can help people find fast and precise answers, the article outlines the need for mainstream systems through design and experience.