Access Imagined: The Construction of Disability in Conference Policy Documents

Authors

  • Margaret Price

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v29i1.174

Abstract

Conferences are a crucial area of professional development for persons with disabilities, but they are also among the most least accessible spaces that disabled persons may encounter. I argue that we need further research into these highly charged spaces, and I contribute to this agenda by analyzing 17 accessibility policy documents produced by 8 different professional organizations. Using critical discourse analysis, I examine the choices these documents have made, both verbal and visual, as well as possible outcomes of these choices for various audiences. In closing, I offer a list of generative questions that the authors of such documents should consider. It is impossible for a policy document to “imagine” access perfectly ahead of time; rather, we should understand and treat policy documents as part of a continually evolving dialogue.

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Published

2009-01-15

How to Cite

Price, M. (2009). Access Imagined: The Construction of Disability in Conference Policy Documents. Disability Studies Quarterly, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v29i1.174