Social  In(ex)clusion,    Dis/ability  and  Technology  

   

Alan  Foley  &  Beth  A.  Ferri  Syracuse  University  

     Technology  is  oBen  assumed  to  be  liberaDng—making  up  for  social,  educaDonal,  and  physical  barriers  to  full-­‐parDcipaDon.  Less  visible  are  the  ways  technology  can  also  isolate  people,  creaDng  unique  forms  of  social  exclusion.    

 

Access/Barrier  

The  ReacDve  nature  of  accessibility  

“most  assisDve  technology  is  reacDve  in  design”  and  by  the  Dme  an  accessible  version  is  developed,  “mainstream  technology  has  moved  another  step  forward”  (Söderström  &  YRerhus,  2010,  

p.  311).  In  other  words,  “AssisDve  technology  will  always  assist  something  that  already  exists”  (p.  313).    

Technology  and  the  elimina0on  of  disability  

     

 Technology,  parDcularly  for  people  

with  disabiliDes,  has  been  seen  as  the  futurisDc  anecdote  for  impairment.  With  technology  disabiliDes  would  simply  fade  away  or  become  inconsequenDal.  

   

 AssisDve  technology  seen  as  way  to  replace  human  supports  and  promote  greater  independence.    Assumed  goal  is  independence  &  transcendence      

The  imagined  utopia  made  possible  through  technology  

–  Invisible  &  visible  disabiliDes  may  trade  places—but  norm  remains  at  center.    

 –  Technology  privileges  parDcular  &  normaDve  ways  of  being.  

 

�  Transcendence  of  the  (disabled)  body-­‐-­‐not    acceptance  of  different  ways  of  being  in  the  world.  

 �  Compulsory  able-­‐bodiness  (McRuer)  via  technology  

But,  is  it  cool  factor?      

Social  meanings  aRached  to  technology

:    

competence,  belonging,  &  independ

ence    

Social  meanings  aRached  to  AT:  

restricDon,  difference,  &  dependen

cy  

 As  idenDty  markers,  the  symbolic  value  associated  with  various    types  of  technologies  plays  a  huge  role  in  determining  how  readily  they  will  be  taken  up  or  rejected  (Hocking,  1999;  Söderström  &    YRerhus,  2010).    

What  do  I  want  to  carry  around?  

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CyberSocial  isolaDon  �  The  speed  of  digital  exchanges,  the  graphic  nature  of  on-­‐line  interfaces  and  games,  and  the  lack  of  accessibility  of  many  electronic  spaces  create  new  forms  of  social  isolaDon  at  the  same  Dme  they  are  heralded  as  expanding  opportuniDes  for  individuals  to  connect  to  an  ever  expanding  social  world.  

Access              Ability          Must  be  wary  of  ways  that  schools/universiDes  may  use  technology  as  an  alternaDve  to  bricks  and  mortar  accessibility.      •  How  will  students  with  disabiliDes  be  pushed  into  electronic  learning?    

•  Will  this  contribute  to  the  further  social  isolaDon  of  students  with  disabiliDes?  

Physical  access  vs.  social  access    

�  Social  inclusion  &  exclusion  is  determined  by  more  than  just  access  to  hardware  or  soBware.  Although  is  certainly  liberaDng,  it  can  also  be  potenDally  isolaDng  if  we  don't  think  about  social  accessibility  at  the  same  Dme.  

 �   You  cannot  separate  technology  from  the  larger  social  context.  Moreover,  if  technology  is  to  reduce  social  isolaDon,  it  must  be  designed  with  social  inclusion  in  mind.  

“Layers”  of  Technology  •  Jargon  -­‐  terms  like  DAISY,  XML,  hypertext  markup,  tags,  etc.  •  Licensing  issues  -­‐  digital  books,  soBware  and  hardware.  •  The  idea  vs.  reality  of  making  computer  labs  universally  

designed.    Early  obsolescence.  UDL  doesn't  address  things  like  preferences  for  privacy  or  quiet  vs.  common  areas  for  discussion,  cost  for  accessibility.      

•  Training  people  to  know  about  AT  and  use  it.  The  “average”  student  doesn't  even  think  about  AT  or  have  any  idea  how  it  works....  

•  Will  schools  try  to  segregate  students  with  disabiliDes  into  distance  learning  courses  because  it's  supposedly  more  accessible.    

•  “What  is  reading?”    Is  reading  sDll  reading  if  the  computer  is  reading  something  out  loud?  Is  doing  something  with  AT  is  doing  it  for  yourself?  

•  Is  a  school’s  AT  infrastructure    (e.g.  having  dedicated  resources  for  AssisDve  Technology)  indicaDve  of  the  school’s  agtudes  about  disability  in  general?  

What  goes  in?  •  Do  you  use  a  Learning  Management  System?    Do  you  add  content  to  the  course?  Are  they  documents,  video,  etc.?  

•  Do  you  use  technology  for  your  class  assignments  i.e.  blogs,  websites,  wikis,  etc.?  

•  Are  you  the  author  of  a  book  used  in  class?  •  Do  you  use  visuals  in  the  classroom  that  give  important  informaDon  pertaining  to  the  class?  

•  Do  you  use  webinars  or  other  classroom  capture  or  conferencing  technology?  

iTunes  

Research and other interests: Web accessibility and usability"

LMS Accessibility  •  JavaScript-Based Navigation "•  Inaccessible Drop-Down menus "•  “Mystery Meat” Navigation"•  Naming Frames "•  Text Scaling – Font sizes"

iAdvocate  

Social  In(ex)clusion,    Dis/ability  and  Technology  

   

Alan  Foley  &  Beth  A.  Ferri  Syracuse  University