Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: It is a common notion that ICT would create new possibilities for everyone. This should be true \nespecially for disabled people who are expected to benefit a lot from the new technologies which are \nat their disposal. This is simply not true or, at best, is an oversimplification of the facts. \nNew technologies, including the new social 2.0 versions, are constructed, tested and designed for \npeople without disabilities. ICT empowers people with new capabilities, but heavily relies on the \nexisting ones. Telephones depend on the capacity to speak and to listen, computer screens rely on \nthe ability to see, navigation systems count on the ability to control its commands, to see and hear, \nand so on. Any new technology brings with it a new power for those who can use it, and a new \ndisability for those who cannot. Once the use of telephones became a standard procedure, people \nwho could not use it acquired a new disability. The same applies to any new technology. \nDyslexics experience specific learning difficulties, which impede their ability to recognize and \ncomprehend written words, and in most cases hinder their acquisition of a second language. Since \nmost of the social web relies on written words, people affected by dyslexia will experience a new \nstronger disability as the use of web 2.0 widens. The more people take for granted the use of the \nsocial and semantic web, the more their expectation will grow regarding the normality of its use. Those \nwho cannot use it properly will be excluded. As ICT extends its reach beyond our own language \nborders, it births a hindrance. This impediment takes the form of an additional disability for people with \nimpaired abilities learning second languages, especially English.
Authors: Giovanni Luca Torrisi, Éva Gyarmathy
Institution: University of Urbino
Language: English
Subfield: Human Factors and Ergonomics
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W153772498