The Business of Digital Disability

By Gerard Goggin and Christopher Newell

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Abstract

The paradox of disability and inclusive information technology is considered. If we are now possessed of greater knowledge about disability and design, why is accessible and inclusive technology so difficult to bring about? Is it because inclusive technology is not profitable, and so unattractive for businesses and unsustainable as an industry? Or is the answer more education and awareness? This paper seeks to reframe dominant approaches to disability, information technology, and policy, by offering a thesis centred upon the power relations of disability and the crucial role played by disability's cultural and social constitution. In explaining and testing the theory, we look at case studies from telecommunications, mobile phones, and the Internet.