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Abstract
When we recognize the development and use of information technologies as an emerging global public good, we can move away from the stark dualisms of profit versus human rights, market share versus accessibility, and competition versus inclusion, to an understanding of how both public and private interests are at play in the development of this global public good. Governments, industry, and disability advocacy organizations are all involved in the construction of this public good in a complex three-way dance. We argue that in the context of this three-way dance it is possible to create a common ground between disability advocacy organizations and the IT industry by developing tools that address the tensions that arise from their differing motivating forces. Specifically, we argue that three sets of tools—regulation, developing ease of use products and standards, and using education to increase the market strength of people with disabilities as consumers—can change the relationships between these two communities of interest in ways that will benefit each.
We thank Phyllis Gordon of ARCH Disability Law Centre for sharing her knowledge about the CRTC decisions with us, and Gary Annable, from the Disability and Information Technologies (Dis-IT) Research Alliance and the reviewers of this article for their constructive comments. We gratefully acknowledge support for this research through the Dis-IT Research Alliance funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada's Initiative on the New Economy, grant 538-2003-1002.