The new disabilities of ICT (original) (raw)

2010

Abstract

It is a common notion that ICT would create new possibilities for everyone. This should be true especially for disabled people who are expected to benefit a lot from the new technologies which are at their disposal. This is simply not true or, at best, is an oversimplification of the facts. New technologies, including the new social 2.0 versions, are constructed, tested and designed for people without disabilities. ICT empowers people with new capabilities, but heavily relies on the existing ones. Telephones depend on the capacity to speak and to listen, computer screens rely on the ability to see, navigation systems count on the ability to control its commands, to see and hear, and so on. Any new technology brings with it a new power for those who can use it, and a new disability for those who cannot. Once the use of telephones became a standard procedure, people who could not use it acquired a new disability. The same applies to any new technology. Dyslexics experience specific le...

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