Work

Disability Meets Modality: A Sociotechnical Approach to Team Meetings

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Team meetings are a key part of professional life which are experienced as sociotechnical, interpersonal phenomena. This interview study examines the intersection of modality, disability, and technology in the team meeting setting. Persistent concerns emerged across meeting modalities: participation as a sociotechnical challenge; social/teamwork considerations; stigma, disclosure, and expectations regarding professionalism; a lack of information regarding meetings; productivity problems; and dueling accommodations between disabled individuals. These themes represent challenges about taskwork, teamwork and social perception, and sociotechnical aspects. Findings suggest that flexibility to choose the modality of attendance based on individual context, along with flexibility to choose in-meeting supports, can help with dynamic needs. The accessibility interventions most desired by participants are both readily available and benefit all workers regardless of disability status, but require simultaneous infrastructural, technological, and process interventions to address.

Source: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

DOI: 10.1145/3757580

Authors: Connie Siebold, Susannah B. F. Paletz, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Shevaun Lewis, Eusebia Mont

Institutions: University of Maryland, College Park, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Language: English

Topic: Digital Accessibility for Disabilities

Subfield: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: University of Maryland