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Improving Technology Training and Employability for People with Disabilities in Latin America

This report highlights research conducted on technology training and employability for people with disabilities across four Latin American countries, including Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Venezuela. It emphasizes the significance of policy frameworks, access to technology, and social perceptions on the employment prospects of individuals with disabilities. The findings are based on qualitative interviews involving users, administrators, and policy-makers, revealing the impact of mandatory employment policies and the challenges faced in accessing assistive technology.

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Improving Technology Training and Employability for People with Disabilities in Latin America

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  1. Center forInformation and Society University of Washington Technology Training and Employability for People with Disabilities: Comparative experiences from four Latin American Countries Joyojeet Pal

  2. UW research on Technology and Disability • AccessComputing, Disability Studies, Rehabilitative Medicine, Do-IT program • CIS Research Agenda in ICTD • Project on Technology and Employability in Latin America • Technology Training and At-risk youth • Technology Training and people with disabilities • Researchers: Michele Frix, Philip Neff, Jay Freistadt

  3. Research Approach • Countries selected based on uniform program – MS/POETA, regional spread • Qualitative research, documenting technology use and issues • Key Constructs: Technology use patterns, Employability impacts • 150 Interviews of users, administrators, policy-makers • Researchers took courses in assistive technology use on the ground • Inspection and observations participation • Simultaneous interviewing and coding in multiple countries • Iterative coding and questionnaire reframing • 1500 pages of interview transcripts

  4. Report Highlights : Policy Issues • Policy Issues: • Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala ratified UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities • Venezuela (5%), Ecuador (1 - 4%) have mandatory employment requirements • Mandatory policies increase employment prospects & perceived value of technology centers to both users and employers • Champion factor extremely important in disability advocacy

  5. Report Highlights: Social and Structural Issues • Significant boost to aspirational environment • Social issue of visibility, self perception of employability • Segue into formal work • Labor markets still getting to terms with hiring the disabled • Assurance services • Basic computer competency is major threshold • Community building, self-esteem • Mismatched expectations • Human services – job search, psychological etc. Important boost to value

  6. Report Highlights : Technology Issues • Lack of trained teachers • Technology failures major deterrent to participation • Motor • Technology unused due to lack of accessibility facilities in real work settings • Vision: • Jaws very expensive, sometimes donated • Several incompatibilities with existing (often hot) software • Auditory: • Subtitling virtually nonexistent. Limited work on speech

  7. Future Work • Full report available September 30, 2009 • Workshop on ‘Technology and Disability in Developing Regions’ in October (http://change.washington.edu/access) • Academic research on issues of technology and visibility, impact of CSR on disability • Collaboration with other groups on cross-country comparative research • Thanks: joyojeet@uw.edu

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