Information Technologies: Dimensions of Access Bertram C. Bruce Library & Information Science University of Illinois

What does it take to make information technologies accessible?

Technologies have politics We are taught to view the political and the technological as separate spheres, the former having to do with values, ideology, power, and the like, the latter having to do with physical artifacts exempt from such vagaries of social life. –L. Suchman (1988)

Demographic dimensions Wealth Language Nationality Race Class Gender Age Physical ability Organization Location

Wealth inequities Wealth of top 1% > bottom 90% Wealth of 3 richest people > GDP world’s poorest 48 countries Cost to install water and sanitation for all the world’s people: $9 billion plus some annual costs Ice cream in Europe: $11 billion/year Countries

Implementation dimensions How do people (which people? for what purpose?) design a technology? distribute that technology? use the technology? interpret that use?

Nested contexts of technologies Design: Hardware, software, content, language Distribution:Availability, documentation, training, support Use: surrounding practices, organizational structures, institutional norms Interpretation: Perceptions, personal values

Design: Reification of dominance well-trodden battle-lines of social conflict --Foucault access to tools & information construction of disability ascii netiquette desktop metaphors web architecture domain name system

Distribution: Technology in Africa “my grandmother in Kenya” “ATT leaves out the entire continent” windup radio

Assumptions about net use Reliable network Software updates Licenses for use Adequate training Personal accounts Work on the net Compatible schedules (cf. the Velham wizard) Equitable access (cf. Foucault)

Use: On-the-ground realities Power strips stolen! 50% typewriters broken Apple II on the information superhighway Logo at Bank Street “Haven’t used it yet this year”

Situated evaluation edeval.ppthttp:// edeval.ppt

Interpretation: Expanding access in China Diaoyu Islands discussion on bulleting board Terminals under glass Great Digital Wall, a la Singapore

Definition of self Barbie & Her Magical House –Visual discrimination: home decorating –Cause/effect: select music –Decision-making: choosing make-up

Metaphysics of technology the claim to not have a metaphysics is itself a form a metaphysics -- Aristotle

Living within artifacts We live in a world in which the artifice of our environment overwhelms the natural foundation or context of the past. As Ivan [Illich] has pointed out, that artifice is undergoing a fundamental transformation in what he referred to as context- sensitive help screens. We spend more time now in front of a screen of one kind or another than we used to spend face to face with other humans beings--either the screen of the television set, the screen of the computer, the screen of my little digital clock right here in front of me. –Carl Mitchum

Technology as social practice (Mutual constitution) Design out of social values (Akrich; Bromley; Selfe; Spender) Distribute based on social relations Use based on existing social practices Interpret in terms of our socially-constructed views of reality (Turkle; Haraway; Kramarae)

Opportunities Digital libraries Multimedia Collaboration systems Ubiquitous computing Tools for lifelong learning

Opportunity: Digital libraries Learning challenges: integrating knowledge from multiple sources; finding information Social challenges: reliability of information; hate sites, pornography, etc.; who has access?

Opportunity: Multimedia Learning challenges: new representations of knowledge; visualization; new skills (Sheldrake); inquiry-based learning Social challenges: loss of common knowledge; corporatization; reification of dominance

Opportunity: Collaboration Learning challenges: new ways to work together to solve problems; understanding the perspective of others; using new tools Social challenges: plagiarism; ownership; inclusion/exclusion

Opportunity: Ubiquitous computing Learning challenges: understanding hybrids; new ways to explore the world Social challenges: surveillance; control; deskilling society

Opportunity: Lifelong learning Learning challenges: new frames for learning, neither time- nor space-bound; learning how to learn Social challenges: new roles for teachers, forms of accreditation, learning institutions, etc.