Restricted Access

More about the book

While digital media can offer many opportunities for civic and cultural participation, this technology is not equally easy for everyone to use. Hardware, software, and cultural expectations combine to make some technologies an easier fit for some bodies than for others. A YouTube video without closed captions or a social network site that is incompatible with a screen reader can restrict the access of users who are hard of hearing or visually impaired. Often, people with disabilities require accommodation, assistive technologies, or other forms of aid to make digital media accessible-useable-for them. 'Restricted Access' investigates digital media accessibility - the processes by which media is made usable by people with particular needs - and argues for the necessity of conceptualising access in a way that will enable greater participation in all forms of mediated culture