What is a ‘normal citizen’? Over the past century the perceived value someone can have on society has developed, however the inequalities that were present at the turn of the 20th Century are still resonating within today’s societies, especially within the digital world. By exploring the relationship between the development of working practices and the changes within society, this thesis will examine how economic value and social power has dictated the thinking of a mass culture to exclude certain groups. This is a problem that has started to be addressed by the governments of the developed world, however they have fallen behind with technological advancements, meaning that those creating goods for the digital world are not governed by the same legislation that those producing goods for the physical world are. The thesis continues by looking at these issues in relation to the internet and how the development of technology has started the dissemination of this power to create a more accessible experience for all.
Users of the internet are now becoming aware of the needs of the disabled users and this thesis explores the ways in which the online community is aiding them and how companies are harnessing this community effort to further their own offerings. It concludes with how the internet as a whole is progressing with greater accessibility in mind, and the current issues which surround this progression.
So my final year project and dissertation is aimed at trying to make people more aware about the issues that the visually impaired face when trying to access the internet. This only came to my attention last year on placement how a well designed (I'm talking about design as in the way the code is layed out, not visually) site can instantly change the way a site is 'viewed' by those with am impairment. I believe this topic is very relevant at the moment due to the increasing rise in Rich Internet Applications (RIA's) such as google docs, even facebook to an extent and a lot of the functions within these applications relies on what are known as 'live regions' these are areas of a web page that get updated without the page refreshing and if this is not done correctly with accessibility in mind it can completely block a user from being able to use that part of the site. I believe more needs to be done to highlight this area as large corporations such at Target were even caught out when a law suit was raised against them for their website not providing an accessible way for impaired shoppers to use their website, however Target are to be commended as they have now taken steps to correct this and are working with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in America to ensure they are leaders in providing an accessible experience to all users.
My final year project is taking this passion to the people who make the decisions, the designers, they are the ones who would not even consider providing a less than perfect experience for full sighted people but this is mostly because designers can not see why a website should be accessible. I hope to rectify this situation by providing an experience to designers which makes them open their eyes to how people with an impairment will see their websites and to provide a way for them to see how small changes can greatly improve the experience to all users. In this vein i was thinking about creating a headset of some sort for a designer to wear and whilst looking at my feeds to day i came across this, it is not that closely related to my project however i thought it was quite a good way if she manages to do have a truly first person view of the world. Her plan is to replace her prosthetic eye with a form of webcam with bluetooth and things in it to transmit what she sees! Check it out, i think it is very cool and in a way on the same lines as what Stelarc's work with the prosthetic ear which he has grown on his forearm which i was lucky enough to see when he gave the kenote speech at an arts festival in Berlin, German 2007.