Author(s)

Roubeena Jeetah

Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC), Cybercity Ebène, Mauritius.

Despite enormous progress by governments and non-governmental organizations worldwide for action-research projects and awareness of the public, people with disabilities still face much difficulty in their daily lives due to discrimination, non-visibility and ignorance. Using systematic literature review and observational research as research method, this paper will show that despite disability being a driver for innovation, designing for disability has remained an exclusive, niche and expensive market. This is set to change as more normal-abled persons face the possibility of someday developing symptoms associated with disabilities due to life circumstances and a growing elderly population. The need to include more people with disabilities in the workplace, not only as simple employees, but also as integral members of design, testing and decision-making teams will be emphasized. Some of the wide reaching examples of disability innovation are touched upon. Finally, an overview of disability and disability innovation in Mauritius is also given.

Accessible Design, Disability Inclusion, Disability Innovation, Usable Design, Universal Design, Mauritius

Jeetah, R. (2022) Making the Case for Disability Innovation: Opportunity at Concrete Change for the Disabled Community. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 111-125. doi: 10.4236/jss.2022.102007.