Fostering Accessible Technology through Regulation

Technology has attracted an increasing level of attention within studies of disability and disability rights. Many researchers and advocates have maintained skepticism towards technology out of the fear that technology becomes another way to 'fix' impairments. These skeptical views, however, contrast with a more positive approach towards the role that technology can play in eliminating barriers to social participation. Legal scholarship has started to focus on accessibility and accessible technology and in conjunction with the recently adopted United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has put a great emphasis on accessibility, highlighting the role that accessible technology plays in the promotion and protection of the rights of people with disabilities. Against this background, this book gathers together different contributions that focus on enhancing the production, marketing and use of accessible technology. Building upon previous academic studies and in light of the UNCRPD, accessible technology is considered a tool to increase autonomy and participation. Overall, this book attempts to show, through a multifaceted and inter-disciplinary analysis, that different regulatory approaches might enhance accessible technology and its availability. This title was previously published as a special issue of the International Review of Law, Computers & Technology.

Delia Ferri is a Lecturer in Law at Maynooth University Department of Law and qualified attorney at law (Avvocato), enrolled at Verona Bar since 2008. Before joining Maynooth University, Delia worked at Centre for Disability Law and Policy of the National University of Ireland Galway and lectured at the Irish Centre for Human Rights. In addition, between 2006 and 2014 she worked as of counsel for a law firm in Verona and carried out substantial activity as independent legal consultant for different NGOs, research centres and international law firms. Her research focuses on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the European Union. G. Anthony Giannoumis is an assistant professor of universal design at the Department of Computer Science at Oslo and Akershus University College. His research focuses on technology law and policy. He is currently researching the implementation of policies aimed at ensuring equal access to technology. His research interests also include universal design, international governance, social regulation, and standardization, and he has conducted research on assistive technology, and intellectual property.

Preface Introduction: Fostering accessible technology and sculpting an inclusive market through regulation 1. Disability, right to culture and copyright: which regulatory option? 2. Robotic prostheses as products enhancing the rights of people with disabilities. Reconsidering the structure of liability rules 3. Does accessible technology need an 'entrepreneurial state'? The creation of an EU market of universally designed and assistive technology through state aid 4. Public procurement as a means to achieving social gains - progress and challenges in European legislation and standards for accessible information and communication technology 5. Transnational convergence of public procurement policy: a 'bottom-up' analysis of policy networks and the international harmonisation of accessibility standards for information and communication technology 6. Enforcing eAccessibility: is the current legal framework adequate? 7. A legal perspective on body implants for therapy and enhancement 8. Assistive technology as support for the exercise of legal capacity