Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
Department
Learning, Leadership and Change
First Advisor
Brett Taylor
First Committee Member
Tara Bunag
Second Committee Member
Fred Estes
Abstract
Technology has provided more people access products and services, yet some individuals who would benefit the most from digital access to resources are frequently excluded from participation. One group that is largely neglected is the disability community. Despite federal regulations intended to ensure that people with physical/mental disabilities are included in public digital platforms, organizations continuously design websites, applications, and interfaces without people with disabilities in mind. This is particularly the case with small businesses, which are most commonly reported as having inaccessible digital platforms.
Digital inclusion attempts to ensure equity in digital properties by providing a model to operationalize inclusion across technologies. This qualitative case study examines how a small business owner in an urban U.S. city prioritizes digital inclusion in his daily operations. Using a responsive interview model, the business owner’s experiences, attitudes, and priorities were recorded. Six themes appeared from this study: perceptions of disability influence digital inclusion, powerful branding suggests digital access, unawareness of accessibility guidelines, UX testing overlooks input from people with disabilities, inclusion is tough to enforce on digital platforms, and workarounds hinder digital improvements.
Pages
101
Recommended Citation
Cipriani, Belo Miguel. (2019). How a Small Business Negotiates Digital Inclusion of People with Disabilities: A Case Study. University of the Pacific, Dissertation. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/3638
Included in
Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Organizational Communication Commons
Rights Statement
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
