Issues of culture in designing for accessibility

Abstract

Cross cultural differences and cultural sensitivities have not yet received much attention in the areas of accessibility, assistive technologies, and inclusive design and methods for working with disabled and older users. However it is important to consider the challenges of developing accessible and usable technologies for people with disabilities and older people in different cultural contexts. This chapter presents the background to the topic and then considers three particular issues in relation to the topic: the accessibility of interactive systems in the home and implications for emerging markets; the accessibility problems in relation to a multilingual society such as India; and finally, the issues of the cultural biases of the methods used when working with users within a user centered design lifecycle or a “double diamond” methodology, whether they are mainstream users, disabled or older users.