While we’re quick to invent, we’re not always quick to solve. In an effort to meet deadlines and race against competitors, new technology is released without taking accessibility into account. To answer the question, “How do we resist the allure of new technology?” the Digital Studies Institute, in collaboration with Digital Accessible Futures Lab and the Mozilla Foundation, hosted a roundtable discussion on Zoom titled “Shiny, Happy Disability Tech” on April 21, 2025. The panel featured critical disability studies scholar and Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, Kelly Fritsch; Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Christine H. Tran; and interdisciplinary musician, artist, and scholar, Eric Whitmer.
Professor Tran shared that “access is not a problem that can be solved. It’s an ongoing relationship that depends on who is there and what they need. Access is something that has to be constantly renegotiated.” Finding technology that works for everyone is a constant balancing act, but the labor of finding solutions often falls on the disabled. We have to work together to express our needs and continually strive to develop equitable devices.
Control over production can fall into the hands of the few instead of the many. The disabled community is severely underrepresented at big-tech companies. When new technology fails to meet basic needs, we must fight back, reject, and push against it.
Learn more about the Digital Accessible Futures Lab here.
