Embedded Files
Introduction
Introduction
Technology promises to liberate disabled people, but often ends up surveilling and controlling us instead, from AI that makes hiring decisions to "smart" systems that monitor our bodies, technology can either advance liberation or deepen oppression. This module examines how to push technology toward justice rather than control, how to center community ownership over corporate profit, and how to imagine technological futures designed by and for disabled people.
Learning Intentions: Envision technology serving liberation rather than control, understand access innovation as community-controlled, imagine disabled futures, and analyze current tech developments
Content
Content
Core Content (Essential Reading/Viewing)
Core Content (Essential Reading/Viewing)
Design Practices: "Noting about Us without Us" - Sasha Costanza-Chock - Design Justice
Disability Bias in Clinical Algorithms: Recommendations for Healthcare Organizations - Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
Accessible Technology within Reach: how to break down the barriers to accessing Assistive Tech - Microsoft Enable
The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Technology - Bonnie Clipper - Nurse Leader
The Intersection of Disability, Technology, and Media: Redefining Inclusion in the Digital Age - United in Accessibility - International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)
Supplementary Content
Supplementary Content
Critical Tech Analysis:
Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Disability Discrimination in Hiring - ADA.gov
Ableism and Disability Discrimination in New Surveillance Technologies: How new surveillance technologies in education, policing, health care, and the workplace disproportionately harm disabled people - Lydia X. Z. Brown et al. - Center for Democracy & Technology
Tech accessibility: Inclusive design, ableism, and ethical AI - Pluralsight
Community Innovation:
Hacking, Switching, Combining: Understanding and Supporting DIY Assistive Technology Design by Blind People - Jaylin Herskovitz - CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Open Source Accessibility Testing Tools Roundup - Raghavendra Satish Peri - DIgitalA11Y
How Co-ops Can Use Digital Tools Effectively to Advance Social Justice - Ahzjah Simons - Nonprofit Quarterly
Speculative Futures:
Crip Technoscience Manifesto - Aimi Hamraie & Kelly Fritsch -Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience
Accessibility Series Part 1: Universal Design Matters in Open Data - Darren Bates - Smart Cities Library
Designing is Imagining: What Futures and Identities Do Activists With Developmental Disabilities Imagine When Designing for Learners with Developmental Disabilities? - Marrok Sedgwick & Stephanie Fuller - Disability Studies Quarterly
Reflection & Engagement Options
Reflection & Engagement Options
Journal Prompts
Journal Prompts
How has technology helped or hindered your access to the world? What innovations would you want to see?
What's the difference between technology designed for disabled people vs. technology designed by disabled people?
How might AI and automation serve disabled liberation rather than replacing or controlling us?
What would technology look like if it were designed from disability justice principles?
Discussion Questions for Learning Communities
How can we ensure that technological innovation serves disabled liberation rather than corporate profit?
What's the difference between individual assistive technology and community-controlled accessible systems?
How do we address algorithmic bias while pushing for technological innovation?
What would community ownership of technology development look like?
Creative & Artistic Engagement
Visual Arts:
Design speculative technologies that serve disabled liberation
Create artwork imagining accessible technological futures
Make infographics about community-controlled technology
Performance & Movement:
Create performances about human-technology relationships
Develop accessible virtual reality or digital art experiences
Write and perform pieces about technological liberation vs. control
Music & Sound:
Create accessible music technology and sound installations
Write songs about technological futures and disability
Design audio interfaces and accessible music production tools
Digital & Tech:
Build accessible apps and platforms using disability justice principles
Create open-source accessibility tools for community use
Design technological prototypes that center on disabled users
Community Art:
Organize community technology workshops and skill-shares
Create technology repair cafes and community tech support
Start disability tech cooperatives or innovation labs
Writing & Documentation:
Write speculative fiction about disabled technological futures
Document community technology innovations and solutions
Interview disabled technologists about their work and vision
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