English Online Handout 2

Rebuilt by Michael Chorost

1. What becomes of Chorost’s interest in humanism by the end of the book?
2. Why all the sex and romance talk?
3. At times Chorost seems dismissive about the more excited claims about cyborg technologies. Why does he seem to draw boundaries around what these sorts of technologies will become and can become?

“The Art of ALT: towards a more accessible web” by John M. Slatin

John M. Slatin details the ways in which web developers can make their products more friendly to disabled persons in this informative article. He outlines the basic functions of the WCAG (the Web Content Accessibility Guide) in making the web more usable by the disabled. As with many other design elements, he argues, accessibility must be designed into the system, as an initial design goal, rather than added on later. Further, he conflates creating text only versions of websites with the “Separate Yet Equal” language of pre-Civil Rights America.

1. Does a text only site serve to create a condition of “separate yet equal?” Or can it have other advantages (people who are not interested in wasting time with graphical or complicated navigations, people on modems, etc.).
2. Why does Slatin (and other technology scholars for that matter) seem to get a “perverse delight” out of the “fiendish complexity” of distributed accessibility technologies?

“The Invisible Audience and the Disembodied Voice: Online Teaching and the Loss of Body Image” by Joanne Buckley

Buckley’s account of being a disabled teacher and her experiences with online instruction highlight some interesting problems with the critical discourse of identity online. Rather than making wild liberatory claims about the de-naturing of identity or some other post-modern flight of fancy, Buckley merely states that teaching writing, for her as a disabled female, is easier online. Further, she goes on to suggest that the lack of depth and real, bodily contact that allows her to overcome many classroom stigmas about the disabled are also beneficial to the of online instruction, in general. By moving outside of the classroom context and into an electronic realm that knows now “normal” instructional schedule, Buckley finds that the goals of composition are actually more apparent. Through online contact, she finds the role of the instructor as a monolithic figure of authority begin to disolve.

1. Is Buckley arguing anything new? If not, then what is the function of this essay?
2. Are Buckley’s discoveries applicable to the non-digital classroom?