1. Access Enabled, Access Denied: Supporting Inclusive Practice with Digital Data Sue Watling - University of Lincoln, UK 11 th International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations University of the Western Cape Capetown, South Africa 20 th -22 nd June 2011

2. Digital Landscapes Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) Promise of ‘transformative change’ Widening opportunities Potential for inclusive education but equal potential for exclusion Digital divides ‘complex and dynamic phenomena’ (van Dijk 2003) Digital divides ‘replicated and reinforced by social divides’ (Steyaert 2005)

3. Digital Data Advantages 24/7 availability Mobile Transferable Flexible Customisable Potential for equity of access

4. Assistive Technology Giesbert Nijhuis (Designer)

5. Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 Read-only to interactivity Consumer to Producer Changing digital toolbox User generated content We can all be digital authors… Changing digital landscapes

6. MEE-Model

7. Retinitis Pigmentosa or Glaucoma Macular Degeneration Diabetic Retinopathy Cataracts Vision impairment

9. Conclusion

13. Digital literacies Three layers to digital exclusion Cost of access Training and support Inclusive digital practices Promotion of digital literacies as both technical and social practices T he ‘social shaping’ of technology (Bjiker and Law 1992)

14. Watling, S. (2011) Digital Exclusion: coming out from behind closed doors. Disability and Society 26 (4) 491:495 Watling, S. (2011) Digital Exclusion: potential implications for social work education & practice. Journal of Social Work Education. 30 (1) Watling, S. & Crawford, K.(2011) Digital Exclusion: implications for human services practitioners. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 28: 205:216 Contact: swatling@lincoln.ac.ukswatling@lincoln.ac.uk http://suewatling.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk

15. References Bijker, W. & Law, J. (eds.) (1992) Shaping Technology/Building Society: studies in socio- technical change London: MIT Press. Deal, M. (2007) Aversive disablism: subtle prejudice toward disabled people Disability & Society 22 (1) 93:107 Steyaert J. (2005) Web based higher education, the inclusion/exclusion paradox. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 23 (1/2) 67:78. Van Dijk, J. & Hacker, K. (2003) The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon. The Information Society 19, (4), 315:326