Teaching a “Critical Accessibility Case Study”

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 2017

Teaching a “Critical Accessibility Case Study”

Ella R. Browning University of South Florida ; Lauren E. Cagle University of South Florida

Abstract

As technical communication (TC) instructors, it is vital that we continue reimagining our curricula as the field itself is continually reimagined in light of new technologies, genres, workplace practices, and theories—theories such as those from disability studies scholarship. Here, the authors offer an approach to including disability studies in TC curricula through the inclusion of a “critical accessibility case study” (CACS). In explicating the theoretical and practical foundations that support teaching a CACS in TC courses, the authors provide an overview of how TC scholars have productively engaged with disability studies and case studies to question both our curricular content and classroom practices. They offer as an example their “New York City Evacuation CACS,” developed for and taught in TC for Health Sciences courses, which demonstrates that critical disability theory can help us better teach distribution and design of technical information and user-based approaches to TC. The conceptual framework of the CACS functions as a strategy for TC instructors to integrate disability studies and attention to disability and accessibility into TC curricula, meeting both ethical calls to do so as well as practical pedagogical goals.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 2017-10-01
DOI: 10.1177/0047281616646750
Open Access: Closed
Topics: qualitative research multimodality technical communication disability studies multilingual writers

Citation Context

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