[Air-L] Internet access and accessibility for people with disabilities

[Filippo Trevisan]

Hi Philippa,

Although it looks at the relationship between disability and the internet
from a different perspective, you may also be interested in some of my
work on the impact of online media on disability rights activism,
particularly in relation to how these platforms have supported the
emergence of a new generation of disabled self-advocates in recent years:

* Trevisan, Filippo (2013) ³Disabled People, Digital Campaigns, and
Contentious Politics: Upload Successful or Connection Failed?,² in
Scullion, R., Lilleker, D., Jackson, D., and Gerodimos, R., (eds.), The
Media, Political Participation, and Empowerment, London: Routledge, pp.
175-91.

* Trevisan, Filippo (2012) ³ICTs for Empowerment? Disability Organisations
and the Democratizing Potential of Web 2.0 in Scotland,² in Manoharan, A.,
and Holzer, M., (eds.), E-Governance and Civic Engagement: Factors and
Determinants of E-Democracy, Hershey, PA: IGI Global, pp. 381-404.

Pre-print versions of these and other papers can be accessed freely at:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1531633

Also, I don't think anyone else has mentioned Ellcessor's work on
accessibility in the U.S.:

* Ellcessor, E. (2010) BRIDGING DISABILITY DIVIDES
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691180903456546>: A
critical history of web content accessibility through 2001
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691180903456546>,
Information, Communication and Society, 13(3):
pp. 289-308.

While I completely agree on the need for advocates, technology developers
and decision-makers to address access and accessibility problems as
priorities, I also think we should be wary of conflating the complex
relationship between disability and new media into digital divide issues.
As there is so much more to be said about this, studying the experiences
of disabled users in greater detail should be a key strand of the research
agenda in this area.

All best,

Filippo

-------
Filippo Trevisan, PhD
Post-doctoral Researcher
Adam Smith Research Foundation
University of Glasgow
66, Oakfield Avenue
Glasgow ­ G12 8LS
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)141 330 9701
Mob: +44 (0)7828 567 252
email: filippo.trevisan at glasgow.ac.uk
Web: www.filippotrevisan.net



On 04/09/2013 03:09, "Philippa Smith" <philippa.smith at aut.ac.nz> wrote:

>Dear AOIR members,
>
>I am currently searching the academic literature to  help me in my
>preparation of a research proposal about internet access and
>accessibility for people with disabilities here in New Zealand. This will
>consider not only difficulties in being 'connected' but also what the
>needs are of people in using computers/the Internet whether they have
>impairments relating to vision or hearing, or who suffer from physical
>conditions as a result of diseases such as Parkinson's Disease or
>arthritis. Really anything in the health area that is relevant to this
>topic and it should extend to include anything about the benefits of the
>Internet for people with disabilities such as empowerment.
>
>I am aware that the Pew Report does cover this to some extent, and have
>also found Dobransky and Harigattai's 2006 paper titled 'The disability
>divide in Internet access and use' in Information Communication and
>Society to be useful. But if anyone can offer or direct me to further
>material I would be very grateful.
>
>Kind regards
>
>Philippa
>
>Philippa K Smith, PhD
>Research Manager
>Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication
>AUT University
>Auckland
>NEW ZEALAND
>_______________________________________________
>The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
>Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
>Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>http://www.aoir.org/