Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
How universal
is access to
computers and
the Web?
The concept of access to computers and the World Wide Web
is quite complex. Think about what defines “access” in this con
text. Does it depend on how the technology is used? How conve
nient must the technology be in order to be considered accessible?
How much should it cost, if anything. Once you have a sense of
what it means for computers to be accessible, you must consider
a myriad of diverse factors that influence accessibility, including
technological capabilities, political power and privilege, cultural
norms, social circumstances and class, economic means, schedul
ing constraints, and personal interests and motivations. This
chapter examines many of these topics, considering possible lev
els of access and identifying potential issues. Although the mater
ial in this chapter can only begin a discussion of accessibility, you
are encouraged to build upon the base provided here and bring
these issues to your local communities. Try to determine what
needs to be done in order to provide more uniform access to all,
and to work with community groups and individuals to make
such expanded access happen.
Let's now consider what it means to have access to computers
and the World Wide Web, and as we do so, we'll talk about a num
ber of examples that show the reality of how much computer access
varies.
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