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Interdependence as a Frame for Assistive Technology Research and Design

Authors:

Cynthia L. Bennett,

Stacy M. BranhamAuthors Info & Claims

ASSETS '18: Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

Pages 161 - 173

https://doi.org/10.1145/3234695.3236348

Published: 08 October 2018 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper, we describe interdependence for assistive technology design, a frame developed to complement the traditional focus on independence in the Assistive Technology field. Interdependence emphasizes collaborative access and people with disabilities' important and often understated contribution in these efforts. We lay the foundation of this frame with literature from the academic discipline of Disability Studies and popular media contributed by contemporary disability justice activists. Then, drawing on cases from our own work, we show how the interdependence frame (1) synthesizes findings from a growing body of research in the Assistive Technology field and (2) helps us orient to additional technology design opportunities. We position interdependence as one possible orientation to, not a prescription for, research and design practice--one that opens new design possibilities and affirms our commitment to equal access for people with disabilities.

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Index Terms

Interdependence as a Frame for Assistive Technology Research and Design
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods

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cover image ACM Conferences

ASSETS '18: Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

October 2018

508 pages

ISBN:9781450356503

DOI:10.1145/3234695

General Chair:
Faustina Hwang
University of Reading, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Joanna McGrenere
University of British Columbia, Canada
,
David Flatla
University of Guelph, Canada

Copyright © 2018 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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SIGACCESS: ACM Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing

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Published: 08 October 2018

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ASSETS '18: The 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

October 22 - 24, 2018

Galway, Ireland

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Overall Acceptance Rate 436 of 1,556 submissions, 28%

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