[sudo-discuss] Fwd: [sudo-info] reaching out from google.org regarding an assistive technology hackathon

[J Clark]

Yes, thank you.

On 6/24/15 3:48 PM, Ryan wrote:
> Things that scare me about stuff like this is that it inevitably 
> becomes not about the needs of the disabled community and instead 
> becomes more about what people think the disabled community wants.
>
> I know they want to get the "need-knowers" in the same room (and I'm 
> really not sure why the family of disabled folks are "need-knowers" as 
> they are often just as bad about this), but there tends to be an 
> overwhelming number of people who just want to help out of a misguided 
> sense of pity. So it becomes a gross ego-stroking mess less about 
> actually helping out disabled folks, and more about able-bodied, 
> neurotypical folks wanting to do their "good deed" for the day.
>
> Even the language on their page really skeeves me out. They're 
> focusing on the 10 year scale, when they have the power to affect the 
> here and now. Why doesn't Google Maps track where there are curb cuts? 
> WIth street view, they could pretty easily go through and identify 
> intersections where there aren't curb cuts. Then, they could parse 
> that into Maps and identify walking directions that work for people in 
> wheelchairs.
>
> But that's not as sexy as 3D-printed prostheses or exoskeletons.
>
> In fact, they specifically say they want solutions that use 
> "cutting-edge" technology. But why use cutting-edge technology, when 
> we aren't even using what we have at hand? Sure, if you come up with 
> an "innovative" idea it's fine, but they don't want to make existing 
> approaches better for folks with disabilities. In fact, they 
> specifically say that they want "entirely new solutions and 
> approaches." Which just feeds into the social model of disability. Why 
> do we need an entirely new solution for me, when we could make the 
> current solution feasible? It breaks all the principles of Universal 
> Design, which goes far beyond architecture.
>