Emerging Tech Adoption in Libraries Risks Excluding Disabled Users

Why It Matters

This trend highlights a critical gap in design practice where the focus on technological advancement overshadows fundamental user needs. Designers and institutions must prioritize inclusive design principles to ensure new technologies benefit all users, rather than reinforcing existing societal barriers.

Key Finding

Libraries are rushing to adopt new technologies without adequately considering accessibility, inadvertently creating barriers for disabled individuals and reflecting broader institutional pressures.

Key Findings

• Academic libraries are increasingly aligning services with tech industry interests, prioritizing emerging technologies.
• Accessibility is often an afterthought in the design and implementation of these technologies within libraries.
• This technocratic approach leads to socio-technical configurations that exclude disabled library users.
• The drive for technological adoption is influenced by neoliberal logics within contemporary universities.

Research Evidence

Aim: How do the technocratic imperatives driving the adoption of emerging technologies in academic libraries lead to failures in accessibility for disabled users?

Method: Qualitative analysis of institutional practices and user experiences.

Procedure: The research examines the adoption of emerging technologies (XR, AI, big data) in academic libraries, focusing on the integration of accessibility considerations. It analyzes how institutional priorities and the influence of corporate tech trends impact the design and implementation of these technologies, drawing on case studies of XR accessibility.

Context: Academic libraries and the adoption of emerging technologies.

Design Principle

Inclusive design must be a foundational requirement, not an optional enhancement, for all technological implementations.

How to Apply

When designing or recommending new technologies for any user-facing system, conduct thorough accessibility audits and involve diverse user groups, especially those with disabilities, in the design and testing phases.

Limitations

The study focuses on academic libraries and may not fully represent other sectors. The specific impacts of different emerging technologies on various user groups require further investigation.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: When libraries get new tech like VR or AI, they sometimes forget to make sure people with disabilities can use it easily. This research shows that accessibility needs to be thought about from the very beginning, not as an extra step later.

Why This Matters: This research is important because it shows how quickly new technologies can become inaccessible if designers don't actively plan for inclusivity. It highlights the ethical responsibility to design for everyone.

Critical Thinking: To what extent does the pursuit of innovation and corporate partnerships inherently conflict with the principles of universal design and equitable access?

IA-Ready Paragraph: The rapid adoption of emerging technologies in various sectors, as highlighted by Clark and Lischer‐Katz (2023), presents a significant risk of excluding users with disabilities if accessibility is not integrated from the initial design phases. Their work in academic libraries demonstrates how a technocratic focus can lead to 'socio-technical configurations that often exclude disabled library users,' underscoring the critical need for inclusive design principles to be paramount in all design projects involving new technologies.

Project Tips

• When exploring new technologies for a design project, always consider who might be excluded and how to include them.
• Research accessibility guidelines relevant to the technologies you are investigating.

How to Use in IA

• Use this research to justify why accessibility must be a core consideration in your design process, especially when working with emerging technologies.
• Reference the findings to support arguments about the potential negative impacts of neglecting user diversity.

Examiner Tips

• Demonstrate an understanding of how technological trends can inadvertently create barriers.
• Show how you have proactively addressed potential accessibility issues in your design process.

Independent Variable: ["Technocratic imperatives in technology adoption","Corporate influence on technology choices"]

Dependent Variable: ["Exclusion of disabled users","Failure to integrate accessibility"]

Controlled Variables: ["Type of emerging technology","Specific institutional context (academic library)"]

Strengths

• Highlights a critical, often overlooked, issue in technology adoption.
• Connects specific design failures to broader socio-economic trends.

Critical Questions

• What are the ethical responsibilities of designers and institutions when adopting technologies that may have inherent accessibility challenges?
• How can we shift the focus from rapid adoption to thoughtful, inclusive implementation of emerging technologies?

Extended Essay Application

• Investigate the accessibility of a specific emerging technology within a chosen context (e.g., a museum, a public service).
• Propose design solutions to mitigate identified accessibility barriers, drawing on principles of user-centered and inclusive design.

Source

(In)accessibility and the technocratic library: Addressing institutional failures in library adoption of emerging technologies · First Monday · 2023 · 10.5210/fm.v28i1.12928