Lea Shaver
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780300226003
- eISBN:
- 9780300249316
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300226003.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
This chapter begins with George Kerscher, who launched Computerized Books for the Blind and Print Disabled in 1988. “I was trying to reach people who were blind and physically handicapped,” Kerscher ...
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This chapter begins with George Kerscher, who launched Computerized Books for the Blind and Print Disabled in 1988. “I was trying to reach people who were blind and physically handicapped,” Kerscher explains, “but also include people who could not read standard print because of dyslexia or some other learning disability.” The enterprise was never formally incorporated as either a for-profit or non-profit organization. The chapter talks about how market for solutions specific to readers with disabilities was too small to lure profit-minded entities, even with strong intellectual property protection. Rather, university scientists and nonprofits serving people with disabilities, and individual inventors with disabilities, did the difficult and unprofitable work of pioneering innovation.Less
This chapter begins with George Kerscher, who launched Computerized Books for the Blind and Print Disabled in 1988. “I was trying to reach people who were blind and physically handicapped,” Kerscher explains, “but also include people who could not read standard print because of dyslexia or some other learning disability.” The enterprise was never formally incorporated as either a for-profit or non-profit organization. The chapter talks about how market for solutions specific to readers with disabilities was too small to lure profit-minded entities, even with strong intellectual property protection. Rather, university scientists and nonprofits serving people with disabilities, and individual inventors with disabilities, did the difficult and unprofitable work of pioneering innovation.
Michael Ashley Stein and Jonathan Lazar (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- December 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198846413
- eISBN:
- 9780191881572
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198846413.001.0001
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Systems Analysis and Design
Most research on information and communications technology (ICT) accessibility and innovation for persons with disabilities, whether in the fields of law, tech, or development, has focused on ...
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Most research on information and communications technology (ICT) accessibility and innovation for persons with disabilities, whether in the fields of law, tech, or development, has focused on developed regions (“Global North”) rather than developing parts of the world (“Global South”). The goal of this book is to increase awareness of ICT accessibility in developing areas, under three common themes. First, innovations created in developing states often get little attention, even though they are frequently less resource-intensive, and therefore more sustainable, than corresponding Global North solutions. Second, when Global South countries evolve their technology infrastructures (as many are doing now), it is important to avoid barriers to equal access for people with disabilities. Third, Global North design, development, and implementation techniques often will not transfer well to the Global South, and should not be applied without thought. Three international legal and policy initiatives ensuring accessibility and equal availability of ICT in developing areas are discussed: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, and the Sustainable Development Goals. This book brings together a unique combination of authors with diverse disciplinary backgrounds (technology, law, development, and education), from non-governmental organizations that are part of the public zeitgeist (the World Wide Web Consortium and Benetech), significant United Nations entities (the World Bank and G3ict), universities in the developing world (Pakistan and Uganda) and the developed world (the United States and Norway), and Global North industrial labs innovating in the Global South (Microsoft Research, India), among others.Less
Most research on information and communications technology (ICT) accessibility and innovation for persons with disabilities, whether in the fields of law, tech, or development, has focused on developed regions (“Global North”) rather than developing parts of the world (“Global South”). The goal of this book is to increase awareness of ICT accessibility in developing areas, under three common themes. First, innovations created in developing states often get little attention, even though they are frequently less resource-intensive, and therefore more sustainable, than corresponding Global North solutions. Second, when Global South countries evolve their technology infrastructures (as many are doing now), it is important to avoid barriers to equal access for people with disabilities. Third, Global North design, development, and implementation techniques often will not transfer well to the Global South, and should not be applied without thought. Three international legal and policy initiatives ensuring accessibility and equal availability of ICT in developing areas are discussed: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, and the Sustainable Development Goals. This book brings together a unique combination of authors with diverse disciplinary backgrounds (technology, law, development, and education), from non-governmental organizations that are part of the public zeitgeist (the World Wide Web Consortium and Benetech), significant United Nations entities (the World Bank and G3ict), universities in the developing world (Pakistan and Uganda) and the developed world (the United States and Norway), and Global North industrial labs innovating in the Global South (Microsoft Research, India), among others.
