Image credits: “Stenograph Tape” by Stewf is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Background removed and wash added. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse. “Three women working at shorthand machines, Regina, Saskatchewan, around 1950 / Trois sténographes à leur poste, Regina (Saskatchewan), vers 1950” by BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Digitalisation of Access Work: From Fiction to Policy

Tue 19 September 2023

online

Together, we will engage with their fiction to understand the essential role of access workers within the digital space.

Looking at the labour of transcribers, captioners, and on-demand workforces like mechanical turks, we follow the fiction of Jo and Jenny to encounter the often-hidden aspect of access work. We will challenge the assumption that accessibility happens behind the scenes and delve into the histories and futures of access work to understand the potential harms and injuries.

This event marks the final reading of the commissioned work collected through interview extracts from access workers.

During the discussion, we will be joined by Natalie Kane, curator of Digital Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum, to explore emerging themes from the fiction project, including how we can protect authorship from Chat GPT and how the protection of authorship can also protect the roles of access workers. What are the harms of automated text for disabled and D/deaf workers?

Readings:

- Jo Lindsay Walton’s "An Eternal Amanuensis"

- Jenny Chamarette’s "Criptörök"

Discussion:

- Natalie Kane (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

- Louise Hickman (Principal Investigator, Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge) and Hannah Wallis (Co-Principal Investigator, Grand Union)

The event is co-hosted by Grand Union (Birmingham), the DIGIT network, and the Minderoo Centre of Technology and Democracy.

Cost: Free