Table Of ContentOUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
Accessible Technology and the
Developing World
OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
Accessible Technology
and the
Developing World
MICHAEL ASHLEY STEIN AND
JONATHAN LAZAR
1
OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 29/09/21, SPi
1
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OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
Foreword
Judith Heumann
Information and communications technology (ICT) has dramatically changed
the world we live in, and will continue to do so even more markedly in the future,
with new innovations appearing on a daily basis. What was once inconceivable is
now not only possible, but the “new normal.” At the same time, the digital divide
that separates those with and without resources, based on their access to ICT,
continues to grow and to have practical social and economic implications. This
new measure of inequality has a profound impact on persons with disabilities
(PWDs), and especially those living in low resourced settings.
Two stories are commonly told about the origins of these two digital divides.
First, that ICT innovation begins in the Global North and is then exported to the
Global South through development and cooperation programs. Second, that
making ICT accessible to PWDs is expensive, and therefore a secondary consid
eration. The chapter contributions in Accessible Technology and the Developing
World, edited by Michael Ashley Stein and Jonathan Lazar, challenge both of
those received wisdoms by providing ample examples of accessible ICT innov
ations arising in the developing world. Ultimately, ICT that is designed without
the needs and abilities of PWDs creates additional barriers to their social inclu
sion, while accessible ICT enables and empowers all users, with and without
disabilities.
In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, by consensus, the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a paradigm
shifting human rights treaty aimed at ensuring the equal place and inclusion of
PWDs in their societies. The CRPD has now been ratified by 181 States, making it
a nearly universal mandate. Among the Convention’s 50 articles, Article 9 requires
accessibility for PWDs to all areas of life, including ICT; Article 21 assures equal
access by PWDs to information; and Article 32 obligates States Parties to make
their international development and other programming ac cess ible to and inclu
sive of PWDs.
I know from personal experience the importance of accessibility in the built
environment and with ICT for disabled people. The world has changed dra mat ic
al ly since I had polio in 1949, when television was just beginning to be made
more widely available in the United States. Then, accessibility of any form was not
seen as essential for disabled people. Buses and trains were not built accessibly,
nor were ramps put on buildings or bathrooms made accessible, despite returning
disabled veterans and other disabled people speaking out. I mention this, because
OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
vi Foreword
we have learned that including access in original design and implementation is
much more cost effective. The failure to include access features in ICT means that
we are still not seen as an essential part of the customer base, with disposable
income as consumers, nor as an essential part of the design, development, and
implementation phases.
Over the years, I have benefited from ICT innovations that facilitate my access
to print materials, make it easier for me to use my computer, read, and ensure that
I can be a valued employee as well as readily communicate with friends, family,
and colleagues across the world. Through my work at the United States
Department of Education, World Bank, United States Department of State, and at
various disability run civil society organizations, I have witnessed the potential of
ac cess ible ICT to empower PWDs, ensure access and inclusion, and challenge
stereotypes and assumptions of the role we can play in our families, communities,
and societies. I have also seen how much we have had to work to get many of
these entities to step up and commit to making fundamental changes that will
ensure accessibility from the outset.
I also understand the gaping inequalities that result when ICT is not accessible.
We know that accessible ICT has an important role to play in ensuring equality of
access for disabled people in education, employment, healthcare, political partici
pation, and all areas of life. The CRPD has been a welcome and important tool in
pushing for the changes needed—a tool developed by United Nations Member
States in partnership with the international disability community—and we as
disabled people are gaining influence. However, it is essential to say that we are
not yet where we need to be. ICT is a perfect example of how we are seeing
tremendous efforts made to pass and implement laws, rules, and standards
advancing accessibility, but our all too frequent absence from leadership and
decision making roles still results in disabled people not having the influence
needed to effect meaningful and sustained changes.
We must not be an afterthought, but be seen as an integral part of the design of
all ICT. Disability rights organizations are slowly having more influence. However,
employers in the ICT market still do not regularly demand that new hires under
stand accessibility, necessitating remedial training. Too many leaders in govern
ment, academia, and business perceive us to be an isolated group of people asking
for charity, when in reality we are nothing of the sort. We can and should be full
participants in the communities advancing progress in every country—progress
from which all members of society can benefit. Critical to changing approaches is
changing understandings of accessible ICT and the important role that disabled
people can and must play in its development. I welcome Accessible Technology
and the Developing World as an important contribution to expanding understand
ing of these issues, and in situating disabled people—especially from the Global
South—at the center of this work.
OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
Contents
Introduction 1
Jonathan Lazar, University of Maryland, and
Michael Ashley Stein, Harvard Law School
GLOBAL AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES
1. Development for All: How Human Rights Break Down
Barriers to Technology 11
Marianne Schulze, Independent Legal Consultant and Human
Rights Expert
2. Addressing the Drivers of Digital Technology for Disability
Inclusive Development 32
Charlotte McClain- Nhlapo and Deepti Samant Raja, World Bank
3. Global Trends for Accessible Technologies in the Developing
World: An Analysis of the Results of the Digital Accessibility
Rights Evaluation Index 58
H. E. Luis Gallegos, Martin Gould, and Axel Leblois, Global Initiative
for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict)
4. Digital Accessibility Innovation in Latin America and
the Caribbean 81
Francesca Cesa Bianchi, Global Initiative for Inclusive
Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict)
5. Digital Accessibility in the Asia Pacific Region 106
Nirmita Narasimhan, Global Initiative for Inclusive
Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict)
6. The Role of Technical Standards in Improving Digital
Accessibility in Under Resourced Regions and Communities 128
Judy Brewer and Shadi Abou-Z ahra, World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C)
7. Digital Inclusion in the Global South: Work Globally, Act Locally 152
Betsy Beaumon, Social Entrepreneur, Former CEO, Benetech
8. Digital Accessibility and Intersectional Discrimination 174
G. Anthony Giannoumis and Rannveig A. Skjerve, Oslo
Metropolitan University
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viii Contents
LEGAL FRAMEWORKS, DESIGN APPROACHES,
AND APPLICATIONS
9. The Relevance of the CRPD and the Marrakesh Treaty to
the Global South’s Book Famine 193
Paul Harpur, University of Queensland,
and Michael Ashley Stein, Harvard Law School
10. The Patent System, Assistive Technologies, and the
Developing World 215
Amy L. Landers, Drexel University Kline School of Law
11. Accessible ICT as a Ray of Hope for Disability Rights in Pakistan 230
Marva Khan, Muhammad Atif Sheikh, and Abia Akram,
Lahore University of Management Sciences & Special Talent
Exchange Program, Pakistan
12. Design Approaches for Creating Person Centered, Context
Sensitive, and Sustainable Assistive Technology with the
Global South 248
Mario Andrés Chavarria and Klaus Schönenberger,
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Anthony Mugeere,
Makerere University, and Samia Hurst and Minerva Rivas Velarde,
Université de Genève
13. Ludic Design for Accessibility in the Global South 269
Manohar Swaminathan and Joyojeet Pal, Microsoft
Research India
14. A Multi Country Comparison of ICT and Educational
Accessibility for Blind Students 288
Sachin Pavithran, U.S. Access Board and Maria Hernandez Legorreta,
Educational Consultant
15. Ride Hailing as Accessible Transit: A Case Study of Blind
Users in India 305
Vaishnav Kameswaran, University of Michigan, and Joyojeet Pal,
Microsoft Research India
16. The Role of Ugandan Public Universities in Promoting
Accessible Information and Communications Technology 322
Patrick Ojok, Kyambogo University
17. Accessible Mobile Banking in India 341
Raja Kushalnagar, Gallaudet University
Index 357
OUP CORRECTED AUTOPAGE PROOFS – FINAL, 28/09/21, SPi
Introduction
Nearly all research on information and communications technology (ICT) acces-
sibility and innovation for persons with disabilities (PWDs)—whether from the
legal, technical, or development fields—has focused on developed countries and
the contributions they make (or should make) to developing countries, with very
little being written about initiatives arising from resource-c onstrained states and
their significant global contributions.
Several reasons commonly explain this asymmetry. Developed countries are
more likely to have well-e stablished technical telecommunications infrastructures;
promulgate institutional mechanisms including agencies, law, and policies to
require public compliance; possess sufficient resources to implement accessibility
standards and modalities; prioritize the education of service providers and indi-
viduals with disabilities about ICT use; and provide socioeconomic environments
conducive to fomenting innovative concepts and solutions. On the other hand,
developing countries often have technology and service infrastructures that differ
from more developed states. For instance, in developing countries, where wired
telecommunications infrastructures are often lacking, wireless infrastructure and
phones more commonly serve as the primary methods of communication. And,
when technology-i nclusive mandates do exist for people with disabilities in these
nations, they are focused on the more basic goal of getting assistive technologies to
users, not on ensuring equal access to all digital information.
Consequently, digital accessibility is often misperceived by ICT companies and
developers. They wrongly assume that digital accessibility is expensive, when it’s
not. They likewise misapprehend that accessibility can simply be added at the end
of technology development, but such changes cannot always be incorporated into
the established technology, and those modifications inevitably increase the over-
all costs. ICT companies and developers also wrongly assume that individuals
with disabilities won’t use their technologies, hence there is no need to make it
accessible. This is exemplified by the infamous and circular justification that “no
blind people use our product!” which in turn is used to rationalize leaving those
products inaccessible to the visually impaired. Along the same lines, ICT com-
pan ies and developers often and erroneously presume that PWDs cannot be
involved in product development because, allegedly, unlike ICT experts, they
“don’t know what they need.” Each of these misperceptions is in accur ate. Yet,
because digital accessibility continues to be viewed through a stereotyping lens,
barriers to accessible and effective ICT use by PWDs remain in place and continue
to be created.
Accessible Technology and the Developing World. Michael Ashley Stein and Jonathan Lazar, Oxford University Press.
© Oxford University Press 2021. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198846413.003.0001
