Reshaping the Philosophical Backdrop for Disability-Inclusive User Experience Design: The Case of a Socially-Aware, Collaborative, International Translation Project

Abstract

This paper extends Bruce Maylath's translation work to incorporate the values of disability and accessibility as an essential aspect of language work in a digitally-restructured, international industry aimed at supplying on-call translations using online tools integrated in websites and search engines, as well as, the traditional translations. In this paper, first, I briefly discuss a virtual, international collaboration among three classes focusing on the teaching of accessibility in the context of business planning and website design as an example of integrated accessibility pedagogy. In the second half of the paper, I describe the design of a new collaboration that takes Maylath's translation-based, international collaboration project in the direction of disability inclusion in translation while inviting instructors in our field to participate in virtual, collaborative translation partnerships that would provide a platform for inclusive translation processes and products. The partnership's aim will be to engage student teams in questions of access for disabled participants in translation work for generating accessible user experiences. Instead of indulging in the rhetoric of social justice or service learning, this approach asks our field to develop professional competency in accessible translation processes and design that honors the rights of users with disabilities to access information on par with all other users, enjoy meaningful and inclusive design experiences, and accept them as participant users and co-designers of translations.