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Paper short abstract

This paper crips digital accessibility, showing the shift from activism to a neoliberal "business case." partialy embeded in Universal Design. Basing on my research and my own embodied experience I call for a communal, slow anthropology that values interdependence over productive self-sufficiency.

Paper long abstract

This paper "crips" the digital accessibility landscape by challenging the ableist and neoliberal norms embedded in current implementation practices. Although digital accessibility is often framed as being aligned with disability justice, I argue that its current form neglects the movement’s motto, "nothing about us without us," in favor of a "profitable business case."

Drawing on a comparison between Universal Design and Inclusive Design, I argue that contemporary standards often function as "political technologies" that prioritize neoliberal productivity and individualism over cooperation, interdependence, and the lived realities (Selanon, Dejnirattisai, Naknawaphan 2025) of multiply-marginalized individuals—specifically at the intersections of queer, neurodivergent, and POC identities (Harrington 2020). I highlight tensions within expert and user communities—including critiques from neurodivergent contributors regarding WCAG standards —to demonstrate how Universal Design can paradoxically exclude specific needs while instrumentalizing them for market gain (Lalitha 2025).

My arguments are grounded in both theoretical literature and my current research project, which utilizes Participatory Design and inclusive methodologies. Crucially, I center my own embodied experience as a queer and neurodivergent researcher navigating in polarized spaces. Through this, I propose a "crip" intervention into anthropology as I have learned it—advocating for a move away from the myth of the self-sufficient hero-researcher toward a more collaborative, slow, and communal practice that values non-normative ways of knowing and being (Taylor 2017).