It Is Time To Start Practicing What Is Preached

If there is one thing I learned from taking an ethics class, it is the fact that every engineer should be required to take a course in ethics before graduating. My classmates and I sit in a discussion section week after week discussing the ethical issues we face every day when interacting with technology, but what really comes of it? A few future engineers might walk away with new ideas to consider when innovating, but the rest of our discourse can just be considered in vain if no large-scale change is made.

In his paper, "Values in Technology and Discolsive Computer Ethics", Philip Brey analyzes the idea of values, norms and a host of other ethical questions a computer scientist and/or programmer should consider when developing technology. Brey brings up the idea of "embedded values", or values that are inherent to a computer system/program that makes it accessible to more people around the world.

The problems that he is informing readers about are very real and will sooner or later affect anyone who interacts with technology. The issue, however, is that nothing is being done to teach all future engineers to understand and recognize these potential shortcomings. Most institutions, including The University of Michigan, do not require kids to learn about Information Ethics before graduation. Since there is no requirement to be aware of these issues, engineers go on to create products that lack certain accessibility. This is what Brey would call the application's "embedded values", or values inherent to its creation.

This lapse in responsibility has led to the rise of software companies focused on teaching designers how to make technology more accessible such as Deque Systems. Deque is a SAS company focused on providing web and app developers with tools to make their products more accessible to those with disabilities. What Deque is doing is fulfilling the role of educational institutions and the government itself who have dropped the ball when it comes to dealing making technology accessible for all.

Luciano Florida talks about the ever-expanding "infosphere" and the line between what separates humans from technology getting blurrier and blurrier, in his essay titled Infosphere. Taking these considerations in mind, I believe it is important for accessibility to shift from an "embedded value" into a "norm" so that the current issues with accessibility are not carried on into our Fourth technological revolution.