Access Ability: Policies, Practices, and Representations of Disability Online
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Access Ability: Policies, Practices, and Representations of Disability Online By Elizabeth Ellcessor A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication Arts) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 2012 Date of final oral examination: 5/14/12 This dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Jonathan Gray, Professor, Communication Arts, UW-Madison Michele Hilmes, Professor, Communication Arts, UW-Madison Greg Downey, Professor, Mass Comm/Library & Info Sciences, UW-Madison Ellen Samuels, Assistant Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies, UW-Madison Lisa Nakamura, Professor, Asian American Studies, University of Illinois © Copyright by Elizabeth Ellcessor, 2012 All Rights Reserved i Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Introduction Media Studies, Internet Studies, and the Intervention of Disability 1 Chapter 1 The Public, Media, & Access: Accessibility as a Model for Media Access 45 Chapter 2 Convergence and Difference: The Sociohistorical Context of the Web and Disability 111 Chapter 3 Web Accessibility 1.0: Forming Policies of Form 151 Chapter 4 Changing Content: The Implementation of Accessibility Policies 189 Chapter 5 Web (Accessibility) 2.0: Policies for Participation and Varied Uses 229 Chapter 6 Webbed Accessibility: Networked Practices in a Disability Blogosphere 274 Conclusion Circulating Media through Circuits of Access 332 Appendix 1: Timeline of U.S. Web Accessibility History 350 Appendix 2: Ethnographic Methods 356 Appendix 3: Interview Questions 370 Works Cited 374 ii ACCESS ABILITY: POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND REPRESENTATIONS OF DISABILITY ONLINE Elizabeth Ellcessor Under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Gray At the University of Wisconsin-Madison Web accessibility–the processes by which online content is made usable by people with disabilities–is a complex process, which is governed by several official policies, implemented by various websites and professionals, and experienced differently by individuals with specific disabilities. As a result, it has not been seamlessly integrated with web content, and people with disabilities remain less likely to be web users than other Americans. In its complexity, web accessibility encourages consideration of media access not as a goal, but as a variable arrangement of conditions. This dissertation looks to the social history of web accessibility in order to consider how access to media might better be understood and implemented across a variety of bodily abilities. Three main methodologies are used: first, historical research draws on archival documents, open- ended interviews, and policy documents to detail the formation of accessibility policies in the United States between 1985 and 2010; secondly, representational analysis of media texts, including popular press and fictional portrayals, demonstrates the ways in which disability was understood in relation to online technology; finally, participant observation of a disability blogosphere and open-ended interviews with bloggers illustrate the continuing challenges for people with disabilities in having their accessibility needs met. Together, these methods illustrate iii persistent tensions surrounding intended audience, technical knowledge, disability rights, and the consumption and production of online content. By highlighting these tensions among stakeholders, and the resulting incomplete implementation of accessibility policies, this project challenges media studies’ optimistic notions of “participatory culture,” contributes to debates about an online public sphere, and augments critical disability studies’ work on accommodation and equity. Finally, a new model for the study of media access is proposed, in which sociohistorical contexts, diverse points of entry, varied content, divergent media forms, and countless intended uses of media are treated as articulated spheres of analysis. iv Acknowledgements Like so much else in life, this dissertation is the end result of ideas, experiences, and people too many to name. As I reach the end of this process, it is suddenly much easier to understand where it might have begun, and how much help I had in bringing it to this conclusion. First, my largest debt is to my advisor and committee. After three years without a central advisor, and with all too many of my own untested ideas, it was a relief to find in Jonathan Gray an advisor so enthusiastic about an unconventional project. He has pushed my thinking about authorship, interview research, and the scope of this project, and his generosity with his time and advice has benefitted this dissertation, and many of my other endeavors, immeasurably. Thanks also go to the other members of my committee. Michele Hilmes has taught me so much about the pervasive influence of media history on “new media.” Lisa Nakamura has been nothing but generous, despite our lack of time at the same institution, and I appreciate her unfailing support of the need for disability in digital media research. I am grateful to Ellen Samuels, who taught the first course I ever took in disability studies and introduced me to new ways of thinking about bodies’ relationships to media. Finally, Greg Downey’s work on television closed captioning was an inspiration, and his Digital Divides course provided necessary background for my investigation of continuing digital inequalities. Beyond their mentorship of my research, however, I would like to thank my advisor and committee for regularly modeling a caring professionalism and showing me the best that this career has to offer. I have also been lucky to learn from many others, whose influence is felt in this dissertation. Lalitha Gopalan read my undergraduate thesis at Georgetown University, and was the first to tell me that I could pursue media studies. Courtney O’Callaghan hired me as a web developer at the Feminist Majority Foundation/Ms. Magazine, despite my lack of any v qualifications other than curiosity. She and Karen Wolf introduced me to web development, and web accessibility, and remain good friends and some of my most trusted sources regarding the technical material in this dissertation. At UW, Julie D’Acci gave me confidence in discussing theory and identity. Mary Beltrán encouraged me to look at disability in terms of representation and identity. And finally, Michael Curtin pushed me to consider questions of policy and industry; I vividly remember a moment in his television and new media seminar in which I went on a tangent about the variability of web content that is fully developed here. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all of my graduate school colleagues in the Communication Arts department. As a masters student, I was welcomed and challenged by the other founding members of the New Media Studies Collective – Megan Sapnar Ankerson, Ben Aslinger, Germaine Halegoua, Josh Jackson, and Derek Johnson. All of them have contributed significantly to the ideas within this dissertation. My officemates over the years, especially Colin Burnett, Chris Cwynar, and Danny Kimball, provided many Thursday afternoons full of wide- ranging conversations from which I came away a smarter person. Kyle Conway, Evan Elkins, Kit Hughes, Kyra Hunting, Nick Marx, Myles McNutt, Sarah Murray, Nora Patterson, Matt Sienkiewicz, and Alyx Vesey have always asked me good question and provided valuable encouragement. Finally, Sreya Mitra, Lindsay Hogan, and Erin Copple Smith have been not only inspiring colleagues but fabulous friends, without whom I cannot even imagine having finished this project. I am particularly grateful to Erin for her support as we cross this milestone together– it’s been really hard, but we have good lives ahead of us. I would be remiss not to thank those who made this research possible. I received a Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation, which facilitated a research trip to Washington, DC, enabling me to consult resources at the Library of Congress vi and meet with accessibility policymakers in person. Many people aided in the preparation and execution of that grant, and I appreciate all of their efforts on my behalf. All of my interview participants also deserve my sincere thanks for their participation; without their input, this project would have fallen flat. I would like to thank accessibility professionals including Bruce Bailey, Curtis Chong, Joe Clark, Tim Creagan, Dennis Lembrée, Jim Thatcher, and Doug Wakefield. I owe a particular debt to Gregg Vanderheiden, who gave generously of his time and expertise, over the course of two official interviews and several extensive background conversations. I also extend my thanks to those professionals whom I cannot name here; your comments have shaped this work, as your work continues to shape this field. Concerning my disability blogosphere, I thank those bloggers I interviewed, including Anna Hamilton, Chally Kacelnik, Gary Presley, Jana Remy, s.e. smith, Blake Watson, Mark Willis, and those whom I cannot name. Most importantly, I thank all of the bloggers who contribute their thoughts, experiences, artistic creations, and personal musings to the internet, demonstrating that while social media and disability have a complicated relationship, it is a crucially important and beautiful one. My family may not completely understand what it is that I do all day, but they have been endlessly supportive of me as I do it. My mother, Brenda, and my father, Steven, have always encouraged me academically;