There number of -isms in our culture is large. Sure, there are the obvious ones like racism and sexism. There are other, often less considered, members of the family as well, such as homophobia, ageism, and sizism. Yes, strides – sometimes great ones – have been taken to ameliorate them, but by no means are they gone. They still poison our society in ways too numerous to count. Today, I’d like to get on the soapbox for a bit about one of the lesser known relatives in the -isms family – ableism. Simply put, ableism1 is the prejudice or discrimination against those who are physically disabled; it is the unquestioned practice of designing the world as though we all have the same physical abilities and the same physical limitations.
Let me give you some background on my experience with ableism. In my professional life, I spend a great deal of time dealing with website design, maintenance, and programming. As we live in the so-called Information Age, the ubiquity of the internet as a facet of everyday life is becoming more accepted and less questioned as time goes on. But how many of you have ever thought about how a visually impaired person views the internet? Visual impairment can take many forms – nearsightedness, farsightedness, color blindness, complete blindness, etc. How do users who suffer from these conditions access the same technologies and information that those who do not share their impairment utilize on a daily basis? The answer is two-fold. The primary portion of the resolution is good design; if web pages and web utilities are conscienciously designed with all users in mind, there are many ways to ease the difficulties that may be experienced by impaired users. The second portion of the resolution is assistive technology; assistive technologies are created to augment the abilities of a user so that he or she may utilize information as easily as possible.
Over the past two years, I have become the primary advocate for an assertive position regarding the implementation of good design and adherence to the tenets laid down by the W3C with regards to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). My suggestions have, on occasion, been met with resistance, because it does require more time and more effort to create a well-rounded design that is utilizable by everyone. However, I still contend that those who create technologies bear the responsibility to insure that those systems are functional for the greatest number of users possible.
Previously, I had little personal stake in this issue. While I am nearsighted, my vision is correctable to 20/20 with contacts or glasses. While not with regard to my vision, I learned today just how much more of a stake I have in this issue now. On the to-do list for the morning was “pay the electric bill,” a simple and routine task that is easily accomplished every month. Today, however, I noticed something different. I’m sure that you, dear reader, have experience with the glorious invention that is the automated phone tree. Yes? I see the nods in the audience, so I shall continue. As you navigate your way through the string of questions, usually guided by a female resident of the Uncanny Valley, you have choices to make and information to communicate. Most of the time, it seemed to me, there was the option of speaking your selection or using the keypad to respond to a prompt. But what happens when that second option is no longer an option? What is no one was concerned with accessibility and good design for the speech impaired and neglected to make possible the use of the phone’s keypad to respond to queries? Such is the case for my electric company, much to my chagrin. After a hard fought battle, I was able to force the system to understand my “yes,” but anything beyond that was a lost cause.
This was a intriguing experience for me. Over the past three weeks, I have realized that I have a speech impediment for the time being. However, in my communications with human beings, I have been able to go slowly, choose my words carefully, and – with patience on everyone’s part – make myself understood. The computerized voice on the other end of the line today was not so forgiving. Today, for the first time, I felt disabled.
I will be writing a letter to my electric company in which I request that they examine modifying their system. I do not know if any change will come of it, but I cannot believe that I am the only one of their customers affected in this manner. I will also resolve to be more mindful in my daily life of my own tendencies towards ableism. May I ask the same of you, my friend? Please, consider it.
If you are interested in learning more about ableism in today’s world, please know that I am hardly the most knowledgeable and articulate on the subject. I would heartily recommend that you visit Shakespeare’s Sister or Feministing, two of my favorite blogs, where issues such as these are routinely discussed.
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1 – Further, ableism is defined by the ABC-CLIO Companion to the Disability Rights Movement (edited by Fred Pelka) as “that set of often contradictory stereotypes about people with disabilities that acts as a barrier to keep them from achieving their full potential as equal citizens in society.”
