Universal Design and Assistive Digital Technologies: Enhancing Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was established in 2006 with the primary mandate of promoting the participation, inclusion and non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in society. The CRPD is a developmental/rights-based instrument that seeks to empower the world’s most marginalized group, persons with disabilities. The CRPD is designed to correct the social and economic injustices faced by these individuals and as a consequence, a number of strategies have been formulated for the inclusion, participation and non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in their society. Emerging from these strategies is the use of modern technologies to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of these individuals in society on an equal basis with others. The use of assistive digital technology, buttressed by the principle of universal design is essential to this process. In this chapter, the author presents findings of a phenomenological study of universal design and digital assistive technology, with the primary aim of highlighting how they are contributing to the everyday participation, inclusion and non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in their society. An auto ethnographic approach has been integrated in the study to highlight how assistive digital technology and universal designed products have significantly aided the work of the author in his every day academic, parliamentary and philanthropic endeavours. The fundamental question to be answered is to what extent is universal design and assistive digital technology helping the everyday participation, inclusion and non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in a digitized world? The chapter concludes with some recommendations for actions that would ensure that persons with disabilities gain greater access to technological devices that would facilitate their meaningful inclusion in society on an equal basis with others.