FodnessMemo40

This study will document and analyze the laws, practices, and norms that surround accessibility in cyberspace software for individuals with disabilities. It will use in-depth interviews and policy research to determine the current state of post-secondary IT education, software design, browser design, and accessibility features relating to how individuals with disabilities use cyberspace. The study examines how these elements fit together to provide accessibility features that work very well, and shows the areas where the disabled are underserved by the current approach. The study provides recommendations for change in policy, browsers, norms, software design, and activist activity in order to provide more and better accessibility features to ensure that individuals with disabilities are able to use cyberspace as well as the traditionally abled. It will contribute to studies on user centered design, universal design, disability studies, cyberspace studies, and policy studies. The study will result in journal publications, presentations at STS and IT conferences, and a book, which will be usable as part of the IT curriculum for software engineers at post-secondary institutions.