Rethinking Accessibility
By John Will
Published September 22, 2020
There is a notion that has been circulating for the past few decades, which is that technology is a democratizing influence on the world. This idea is charming, and quaint. It almost approaches the reality of the world which is that access to technology is a democratizing influence on many societies. The irony of this notion is that in so many cases, access itself is the gatekeeper, and it is access that becomes the source of inequality for many individuals.
Accessibility is, in far too many cases, an afterthought rather than a central tenet of the world. Unfortunately, the word accessibility has become associated, negatively, with those who are otherly-abled, and may have special requirements for accessibility. And so, this concept of democratizing the world has fallen short, shunted aside in the name of homogeneity. Accessibility has become a service provided by businesses to customers.
But, imagine for a brief moment, a paradigm wherein accessibility was seen through the proper filter, which is that [...]