TITLE:
Making the Case for Disability Innovation: Opportunity at Concrete Change for the Disabled Community
AUTHORS:
Roubeena Jeetah
KEYWORDS:
Accessible Design, Disability Inclusion, Disability Innovation, Usable Design, Universal Design, Mauritius
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.2,
February
15,
2022
ABSTRACT: 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.