1.
Talk for Live, Work, Play: NSW The State of Inclusion conference
17-18 May 2017
Gerard Goggin (@ggoggin)
University of Sydney
Unpacking Accessible
Technology:
Building Digital Citizenship

2.
What is digital citizenship?
•not just cybersafety & digital literacy (very
important; taught in schools now)
•contemporary citizenship – civil, political, social &
cultural – involves digital technology
•across attitudes, liveable communities, employment
& better access to services
•So we have rights to digital technology (starting
with Internet & mobile tech rights)

3.
State of Inclusion May 2017 Conference theme: ‘Assistive technology and
accessible IT to enhance inclusion for all, particularly people with disability’
Very timely because accessible technology underpins all 4 focus areas of NSW
Inclusion plan
however, accessible technology is not mentioned in the 2015-2019 plan; so NSW
presumably is in ‘catch-up’ mode in terms of strategy (it’s not alone)
Key issue is a paradox:
• much of accessible IT is shaped globally or nationally; and thro’ difficult to follow
technical arenas/knowledge;
• Reliance upon the market to deliver accessible IT – but also now assistive
technology (e.g. NDIS reliance on growing the market); this is not going to
deliver digital citizenship
• yet state & local governments play a critical, facilitative & leadership role in how
accessible IT & assistive technology innovation, systems & access actually play
out
So how do we ‘build’ (disability) digital citizenship, from such a state-based
perspective?

4.
‘low level of digital inclusion’
‘For people with disability, digital inclusion is low, but improving
steadily. People with disability have a low level of digital inclusion
(44.4, or 10.1 points below the national average). However,
nationally, their inclusion has improved steadily (by 2.6 points since
2014), outpacing the national average increase (1.8 points).’
Thomas, J, Barraket, J, Ewing, S, MacDonald, T, Mundell, M & Tucker, J 2016, Measuring
Australia’s Digital Divide: The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2016, Swinburne University
of Technology, Melbourne, for Telstra.
Definition of ‘disability’: ‘Disability: people in this category receive either a disability pension, or the disability support
pension’ (p. 7)

5.
Disability helps us reimagine digital citizenship
• 1st of all: technologies have to be accessible, useable & affordable for
all
• esp. digital technologies – if designed & implemented – offer new
forms of accessibility (e.g. web accessibility; screen readers; voice &
communication technologies; different kind of interfaces via touch;
automation; robotics)

6.
Key ideas for disability, inclusion & digital
technology
Socially shaped, disability spans a wide variety of different bodies,
conditions, and situations we can find themselves more or less
“disabled,” identifying or dis-identifying with disability, through the
course of our lives
In relation to technology, there are many ways in which barriers,
obstacles, and inaccessibility can be “built-in” to systems, rather than
producing “enabling” environments
Disability has an especially close association with design, offering
many ways to rethink “universal” and “inclusive design”;

7.
Key ideas for disability, inclusion & digital
technology
Disability draws our attention to new aspects of literacy, education,
and user support requiring accessible formats, inclusive education, as
well as drawing attention to cultural and linguistic aspects of digital
inequality (the importance of sign language for Deaf communities, for
instance)
Many of the proffered solutions for global connectivity, such as cheap
mobile phones, fall well short of meeting the needs, preferences, and
desires of users with disabilities
People with disabilities are marginalized in the research, policy,
technology design, and policy formulation relating to digital
citizenship & inequality

8.
Disability digital citizenship:
New markets, new rights
• Technology now crosses divide between ‘assistive’ and
‘mainstream/other’ technologies in new ways (e.g. tablet computers
such the iPad) – this changes market, economic & consumer
dynamics
• right to technologies as integral part of human rights are set out in
the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• People with disabilities face significant social inequality & justice -
technology is seen as key tool in addressing
• so we can find an implied vision of digital citizenship in the CRPD

9.
Do we have a map of digital citizenship in NSW?
• How does each person and household gain affordable, accessible access to
& use of accessible technology? (e.g. what role is played by NSW tech
industry & ecosystem; employers; NDIS system & providers in assistive tech;
Fed govt in universal service; anti-discrimination/human rights law; state gov
& agencies; local govt; community groups; education institutions?)
• How does everyone learn the basics about digital technology? across
different groups/demographics in communities, especially addressing
distinct requirements across families; communities; schools; work;
institutional settings;
• How do we ensure everyone has access to training & support for new kinds
of digital technology? E.g. to access ‘digital’ government services (paying
bills; licence renewals) Often community groups, libraries, local governments
provide/support such training/support

10.
Map of digital citizenship in NSW?
• What say do citizens have in introduction & operation of digital
technologies? (e.g. what are the governance arrangements for data
gathering & digital services in ‘smart’ cities currently being
developed?)
• Policies for intersectional digital citizenship (e.g. what the concepts
& needs of disability digital citizenship that come from innovative use
in particular communities – cultural diverse, indigenous, rural &
remote communities, gender & sexually diverse communities?)
• Digital citizenship across the ‘life course’ (e.g. what about mandating
Wi-Fi access in nursing homes & care facilities for older people?)

11.
Stacey Zoern’s Kenguru, from Paul Richoux, ‘Kenguru: the perfect car for wheelchair users?’, ‘Wheelchairs and
Mobility’, 24 September, 2014

12.
references
Goggin, Gerard, Scott Hollier, and Wayne Hawkins. “Internet Accessibility and
Disability Policy: Lessons for Digital Inclusion from Australia.” Internet Policy
Review 6.1 (2017)
Goggin, Gerard. “Communication Rights, Disability, and Law: The Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in National Perspective.” Law
in Context (2017), in press
Goggin, Gerard. “Reimagining Digital Citizenship via Disability.” In Negotiating
Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest, Culture, edited by Anthony McCosker,
Sonja Vivienne, and Amelia Johns, 61-80 (Rowman & Littefield, 2016 )
Goggin, Gerard. “Disability and Digital Inequalities: Rethinking Digital Divides
with Disability Theory.” In Theorizing Digital Divides, edited by Massimo
Ragnedda and Glenn Muschert (Routledge, 2017)