FodnessMemo01

|| **Data Sets** || **Social / Theoretical Questions** || **Why Now** || **How Prepared** || **Bias** || **Fields of Work** || **Funders** ||
 *  **Topical Area**
 * Individuals with Disabilities Using IT || Primarily interviews and research into assistive technologies - research into the education of IT professionals that design systems used by the disabled, what policies exist at the national and state level || How do individuals with disabilities use IT devices? Are they more, less, or equally able to use IT devices than traditionally able individuals? What assistive software exists? Is it built into operating systems / browsers / etc or does it need to be bolted on afterwards? Is it free, or how much does it cost? Do subsidies exist and are they easy to obtain? What corporate / federal / state policies exist wrt assistive technologies and access? What software-level restrictions are in place for enforcing assistive functionality? Is assistive functionality provided actively or passively in different technologies, and why? What education frameworks exist at the trade school and university level for teaching development for disability? || Because there has been increasing scrutiny in past years wrt individuals with disabilities being an underserved community in the area of IT. As IT has become more pervasive in everyday life, and is all but required in order to perform certain tasks, my hypothesis is that IT has enabled traditionally abled individuals and further disabled the disabled individuals, even though IT has the capability to reduce or remove barriers created by disability. || I worked with implementing disability-ready (Section 508 compliant) websites and IT devices at the Department of Labor for three years and designing accessible websites both professionally and personally. During my IT education at RPI I was never instructed in how to design accessible websites or how to build IT applications so that they were accessible. || I think that individuals with disabilities are underserved, and that they should be granted the same level of access to content through IT devices as the traditionally abled, even if it means greater cost in time, effort, and money to corporations designing IT devices. I also believe that individuals with disabilities should not have to pay any more for the IT devices than the traditionally abled. My research may prove that individuals with disabilities are more enabled through IT than they were otherwise, even with the limitations in place. || Disabilities studies, technology and IT studies, software design, website and user interface design, IT policy. || NSF, USFG, Educational Institutions, NIST, Disability Advocacy Groups, W3C. ||
 * Internet Software Design, Policy, & Self-Regulation || Figures on compliance to established standards for websites, what policies exist at the national and state level, interviews with software developers || What published standards exist for Internet technologies? Who develops the standards and what is their regulatory authority and enforcement capability? What corporate, federal, and state policies exist to regulate Internet technologies and adherence to standards? What are the positive and negative impacts of not adhering to published standards? What arguments do individuals and corporations give for not adhering to standards? Do software programs that generate code have mechanisms in place to ensure that they are generating standards-compliant code? || Because the number of different devices, operating systems, and browsers accessing the Internet has increased substantially over the past few years, which has inflamed existing problems with a lack of standards compliance in browser creation, rendering of web pages, and development of standards-compliant HTML and CSS code at the web development end. || I have been involved with designing standards-compliant websites for over a decade, and have seen firsthand the problems that arise from browser non-compliance and cross-platform web development. || I believe that standards compliance for browsers and Internet software should be established by a regulatory agency with enforcement powers, and that software that writes code should be required to generate standards-compliant code. I also believe that corporations should be required to have standards-compliant websites, and that standards compliance for freelance developers and hobbyists should be painless and enforced at the software level. || Software design, website design, standards compliance, IT policy. || NSF, NIST, Education Institutions, W3C. ||
 * Debate and Forum Discussion Enabled, Constrained, and Mediated by Internet Technologies || Some kind of research into how debates and forum discussions have changed as a result of the Internet - interviews and qualitative info mostly || How have traditional face-to-face debates changed by using time-lapse forum technology, instant messaging technology, and instant access to information? What has been gained and lost as a result of this process? What are the impacts on political and social awareness and real-life interaction? What is the impact of Internet-based research on traditional face-to-face debates, both organized and impromptu? || With the rise of blogs and forums for discussion and debate, primarily since 2004, and the rise of the Internet as a tool of politics, not enough research has been done into the capabilities and limitations of the Internet as a political discursive medium. || I was involved heavily with formal debates in high school, of which most of the research was done on the Internet, and I am involved in the blog scene and with politics. I have followed many campaigns that have used the Internet heavily, and I have participated in many online and offline debates. || I believe in the value of debate and that there is inherent value in requiring individuals to think on their feet as opposed to always having time to craft answers and do additional research. However, I believe that there is some value in producing written responses organized around evidence in a semi-timely fashion. But I do not believe that this should take the place of traditional debate activities. I also believe that the Internet has been an incredible asset to traditional debate as a research tool. || Internet studies, Political Science, Anthropology, Education Studies. || NSF, Education Research Groups, Education Institutions, Think Tanks, USFG. ||