Livestreaming: exploring the obstacles and possibilities of digital usage for people with disabilities

Abstract

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) has had increasing influence, both positive and negative, on people with disabilities. How does ICT impact people with disabilities and what are the subjective experiences, feelings, attitudes, and understanding of people with disabilities under this influence? To address these questions, we conducted experiential and experimental research – one of the authors, Hui Heng, a visually impaired person, conducted a total of ten livestreams of his daily commute – to explore and experience vividly the obstacles and opportunities of ICT usage in a creative way. We argue that this experiential and experimental livestreaming demonstrates people with disabilities’ right to be seen and people without disabilities’ right to observe and recognize the diversity of our society.

Keywords:

• Disability
• livestreaming
• power to see
• information and communication technology (ICT)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by the Research Grant of China Disabled Persons’ Federation (Project Title: Research on Information Accessibility in the Context of New Technology; Grant No.: 20&YB017).