Worlding Difference in the digital realm: how to create a radically accessible online space in the age of techno-eugenics

Carla Rice

Chapter 21 in Disability in a Turbulent Era, 2026, pp 242-253 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter introduces Worlding Difference, a digital platform created by over 200 disabled, D/deaf, Mad, aging, and fat artists, scholars, and activists. It responds to the deadly impacts of COVID-19 policies and the enduring influence of eugenics in technology design by reimagining digital access as a creative and justice-oriented practice. The platform features multimedia modules on disability arts, aging, fat activism, mental health, autism, and more—each offering culturally and politically rich perspectives. Access is not treated as a checklist of technical fixes, but as a dynamic, collective process shaped by the knowledge and needs of non-normative communities. Worlding Difference critiques how current web standards fail millions and demonstrates how activist art can cultivate welcoming, vibrant communities. By centring difference, it works to undo the harms of colonialism, white supremacy, and eugenics. To exceed existing standards, the site integrates easy-to-read fonts, image descriptions, an Indigenous writing system, a customizable accessibility toolbar, and a glossary with community-authored definitions. More than a resource, Worlding Difference is a refuge—a space of resistance and renewal. It invites users into a mood of care and possibility, challenging extractive, one-size-fits-all tech and offering a vision of digital worlds that are responsive, relational, and attuned to the complexity of human variation.

Keywords: Difference-centred design; Critical access; Techno-eugenics; Re-worlding; Crip mood-work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035347247
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