Disability, Human Rights, and Information Technology (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0812249232 ISBN 13: 9780812249231

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017

Synopsis

Disability, Human Rights, and Information Technology addresses the global issue of equal access to information and communications technology (ICT) by persons with disabilities. The right to access the same digital content at the same time and at the same cost as people without disabilities is implicit in several human rights instruments and is featured prominently in Articles 9 and 21 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The right to access ICT, moreover, invokes complementary civil and human rights issues: freedom of expression; freedom to information; political participation; civic engagement; inclusive education; the right to access the highest level of scientific and technological information; and participation in social and cultural opportunities.

Despite the ready availability and minimal cost of technology to enable people with disabilities to access ICT on an equal footing as consumers without disabilities, prevailing practice around the globe continues to result in their exclusion. Questions and complexities may also arise where technologies advance ahead of existing laws and policies, where legal norms are established but not yet implemented, or where legal rights are defined but clear technical implementations are not yet established.

At the intersection of human-computer interaction, disability rights, civil rights, human rights, international development, and public policy, the volume's contributors examine crucial yet underexplored areas, including technology access for people with cognitive impairments, public financing of information technology, accessibility and e-learning, and human rights and social inclusion.

Contributors: John Bertot, Peter Blanck, Judy Brewer, Joyram Chakraborty, Tim Elder, Jim Fruchterman, G. Anthony Giannoumis, Paul Jaeger, Sanjay Jain, Deborah Kaplan, Raja Kushalnagar, Jonathan Lazar, Fredric I. Lederer, Janet E. Lord, Ravi Malhotra, Jorge Manhique, Mirriam Nthenge, Joyojeet Pal, Megan A. Rusciano, David Sloan, Michael Ashley Stein, Brian Wentz, Marco Winckler, Mary J. Ziegler.

About this title

About the Author:

Jonathan Lazar is Professor of Information Studies and Associate Director of the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Maryland. He is author of numerous books, including Ensuring Digital Accessibility Through Process and Policy and Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Michael Ashley Stein is Cofounder and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, and Extraordinary Professor at University of Pretoria Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights.

Review:

"This is an exciting and much-needed project. The right to accessibility has received relatively little academic attention and this book performs a field-defining role."—Anna Lawson, University of Leeds

"As information technology continues to transform human endeavor, it poses new challenges to law and regulation in many sectors. Disability is such a sector. There is no other book that provides so many insights into the rapidly evolving international scene."—Clayton H. Lewis, University of Colorado, Boulder

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0812249232
• ISBN 13: 9780812249231
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 360
• Editor: Lazar Jonathan, Stein Michael Ashley