Point of View and Rising Flame organised a 60-minute dialogue on digital accessibility for the Rights Con 2023, Costa Rica. The panel which happened virtually explored Digital Self-Determination through the lens of the lived realities of persons with disabilities. The speakers were Aishwarya Vyas from Revival Disability India and Vashkar Bhattacharjee from Young Power In Social Action, Bangladesh. They discussed the kinds of tools and hurdles that persons with disabilities encounter along the way while accessing them. The session was facilitated by Srinidhi Raghavan, Co-Lead Programmes, Rising Flame, on June 7, 2023.
Some quotes from the dialogue—
“Education can be difficult to navigate. I did my honours in painting, and it takes physical strength to work on a big canvas. But, when the pandemic hit and classes moved online, we were able to create a whole exhibition online! I did not have to take painkillers to travel to the university or go through social anxiety. That’s when I realised that I can be a part of the world through the Internet too!”
—Aishwarya Vyas, Revival Disability, India
“Digital technology has enabled and created opportunities for people with disabilities but at the same time, it has also increased the digital divide for persons with disabilities. For instance, many digital and assistive technologies are really expensive.”
—Vashkar Bhattacharjee, Young Power in Social Action, Bangladesh
“People with disabilities are not thought of as users, unless the tool is built specifically for them, for example, wheelchairs. But if we consider everyday things like ovens, people with disabilities’ are left out of these conversations and these tools are not tuned to their needs.”
—Srinidhi Raghavan, Rising Flame, India