[laptop-accessibility] Advocacy for Elevated Disability Inclusion: Next Steps?

[Andrea Shettle]

Given the recent discussions on this list criticizing OLPC for not 
putting higher priority on the needs of children with disabilities FROM 
THE BEGINNING, I'd like to make a few comments and ask some questions, 
either for the list at wide or for any individual who is in the 
strongest position to answer:

1. If OLPC's excuse for not putting disability access at higher 
priority from an earlier stage is, "the customers haven't asked for it 
yet" then I think that is a weak excuse.  Any time one discusses 
disability inclusion, one must be sensitive to the fact that people 
with disabilities are already so profoundly marginalized and excluded 
that they very rarely have chances to really make themselves heard in 
society EVEN IN societies like the US where we have laws that help 
empower us (like the Americans with Disabilities Act ... or the 
equivalent Disability Discrimination Act for people in the UK etc).  
The NEED can be there and can be very extreme and still simply not be 
heard at the highest levels because the people with decision making 
power don't even SEE or HEAR people with disabilities, must less seek 
out their input.  And the people with disabilities are denied the 
opportunities they need to MAKE high-level personnel listen to them.

If we wait for the country governments buying the computers to *ask* 
for disability access before this becomes a priority, then this is 
putting disabled children in the very unfair position of waiting for a 
very long time before their needs are put on an equal footing with 
everyone else.  I think OLPC should be taking more responsibility for 
considering the needs not only of those who can speak for themselves in 
an articulate and coordinated fashion (and thus be heard by the 
high-level decision makers in developing countries who actually pay for 
the XOs) but also the needs of those who are too isolated from each 
other to be able to put forth a unified, strong voice at this time.


2. Those of us who are making complaints like this one are currently 
preaching to the choir: we wouldn't be on this list if we didn't 
already support the idea of accessibility features for ALL children 
using the XO laptops.  What we really need is for people with key 
decision making power within OLPC (I don't necessarily mean Negroponte 
himself, but people who at least are in a position to shape and 
implement the stated vision and mission of OLPC).

Is there anyone meeting this description already in this list?  If not, 
then all this complaining among ourselves about the low priority OLPC 
has put on disability access will accomplish little.  Indeed, the work 
that some members are trying to do to figure out how to make the XO 
more accessible, design new software, etc., will itself accomplish 
little if the OLPC as a whole does not put high enough priority on 
actually USING the innovations created by our more skilled, hard 
working participants (not me, alas, because I barely even *understand* 
some of the more technical discussions on this list!).


All the above leads to this point:

3. Perhaps rather than simply complaining among ourselves, or working 
in isolation from the overarching OLPC project on accessibility 
concerns, we should discuss how we can work together to ADVOCATE within 
OLPC to put higher priority on accessibility concerns.

If there is anyone on this list who has been in some way in close 
contact with decision-making personnel within OLPC, or who simply have 
more knowledge how things work from the inside, then your input would 
be greatly welcomed.

If we on this list who share an interest in influencing OLPC's 
disability inclusion policy can pull together and work out a strategy, 
then I would be happy to post a Call To Action at my blog 
(http://wecando.wordpress.com) for whatever small help that would 
provide in bringing attention to the cause.  (My blog is targeted at 
people with disabilities in developing countries and their allies 
around the world, including international development professionals.)

If there is enough interest in coordinating some kind of advocacy 
campaign targeted at OLPC, then we could consider creating a spin-off 
mailing list devoted to that purpose, in order to allow this list to 
retain its focus on the more technical aspects of accessibility.

Andrea Shettle, MSW
ashettle at patriot.net
wecando.wordpress.com