Assistive Technology Is a Resource for Building Capabilities, but Is It Just Addressing the Symptoms of Inequality?

Abstract

Advocacy for assistive technology interventions is compatible with the capabilities approach but is insufficient for addressing the disadvantage experienced by people with disability. This paper reflects on equality as an objective of the capabilities approach arising from economics, and it summarises how assistive technology and accessibility are mechanisms for achieving equality in the contemporary legal context of international disability rights. Research and advocacy for assistive technology have failed to communicate a coherent set of actions for policy makers to adopt. Defined concepts and interventions are required to prioritise and coordinate action to support individuals with assistive technology in parallel with improving collective resources by improving accessibility. Radical change in economic paradigms and societal structures that drive poverty and disability may be required for the effective adoption of assistive technology and closure of capability gaps.