Conversations about digital accessibility are predominantly centered on the technical and monetary expenses of implementation in products and applications. Missing from these conversations are socioeconomic factors faced by people with disabilities that can be significant blockers to digital access more than any design or technical inaccessibility.
In this talk, Crystal Preston-Watson discussed the economic realities of disability in America and the repercussions of overlooking those realities in digital access.
Highlights
- Income and employment disparities
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) misuse
- The reality of SSI and SSDI benefits
- The digital divide
- Funding assistive technology purchases
- Q&A with Crystal
Resources
- Transcript: text version
- Transcript: PDF version
- Twitter thread of resources mentioned in talk.
- New York Senate Bill S1828: Relates to the minimum wage for employees with disabilities.
- Cost of Living Adjustment for 2022. From attendee Christina Delzenero: Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments will increase by 5.9%. This means that more than 70 million Americans will see a change in their benefit payments.