Computers as Barrier to or Vehicle for Equity
Response to “Computer Access Equity”

Marianne LaFrance and Anne Meyer

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Factors Affecting Equity of Access to Computers
• 2.1 Availability of Information Technology
• 2.2 Appropriateness of Fit Between Technology and User
• 2.3 Social Context of Computing
• 2.4 Summary of Factors Affecting Access
• 3. Computing Equity in the Context of Education
• 3.1 Computers as Prerequisite for Education
• 3.2 Computers as Access Devices
• 3.2.1 AIDS Videodisc with HyperCard Software
• 3.2.2 Speech Synthesis for Reluctant Writers
• 3.2.3 Eskimo children’s multimedia stories
• 3.3 Implications for Equity
• 4. Conclusions
• 5. References

1. Introduction

Walter Maner considers whether a case might be made for a basic right, one of access to information technologies. The issue arises, because as Maner himself notes, current statistics document broad inequities in availability of technology access. For example, females, people of color, disabled individuals, and people living at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder are typically denied access to the benefits of computing. While Maner concedes that there is “no basic right to computer access for all people,” nevertheless he argues that justice requires that persons who can raise themselves to parity with others should be able to access the computer resources that would enable them to do so. While we concur with this call for greater social justice, we believe that the analysis leading to it failed to fully consider whether current inequities are “systemic.” In addition, we argue that the focus on the access that people deserve tended to obscure the considerable role that computers can play in both creating and reducing societal inequities.

Our aim is thus to redress these oversights. First, we look more closely at how inequities in computer access come about. Specifically, we examine three systemic factors that contribute to differential access. In adopting the metaphor of a “biased social lottery” to characterize access inequities, Maner has perhaps unwittingly minimized the social factors that create and maintain inequities. In other words, we contend that his perspective results in insufficient attention being given to the social system surrounding information technology that depicts some people as more computer worthy than others and hence more deserving than others.

Next, we explore distribution of computer resources in a particular context, specifically public education. Education provides a rich and central context within which to examine equity issues. It is not only that computers are available in some educational settings and not in others or even that they are changing the very nature of what it might mean to receive an education but in addition, it is the case that computer technology is providing the wherewithal to alter some inequities previously believed to be intractable. We provide a number of examples of such use and argue that they represent reason to re-frame the issue of what a just allocation might be.

Go to: 2. Factors Affecting Equity of Access to Computers

Home > Research Resources > Adaptive Technology > Equity to Computing Resources > Computers as Barrier to or Vehicle for Equity

Back to the Main Site

HOME | IN THE NEWS | RESEARCH RESOURCES
TEACHING RESOURCES | STUDENT RESOURCES | LINKS

The Research Center on Computing & Society
at Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street | New Haven, CT 06515
Director: (203) 392-6790 | e-mail: webmaster@computerethics.org

© 2000 – 2007 – Research Center on Computing & Society