Abstract

While technology can magnify existing inequalities by excluding marginalized groups in society, paradoxically, it can also serve as a means for them to move from isolation to inclusion. In this paper, we report a study illustrating how individuals belonging to one marginalized group—people with lifelong disabilities (PWLD)—used technology to navigate this path. Our study was part of an initiative by the Norwegian government exploring how PWLD can attain social inclusion (SI) through the use of virtual worlds (VW), specifically Second Life (SL). Using a conceptualization of SI specific to PWLD, which consists of two interrelated domains—interpersonal relations and community participation—we trace how the actualization of affordances in VW enabled PWLD to achieve SI. This outcome was built upon the realization of five interrelated affordances: Communicability, Mobility, Personalizability, Engageability, and Self-actualizability. Based on these insights, we demonstrate the role of VW affordances in achieving SI and propose a model titled the affordance-based pathway model of social inclusion. We contribute to the discourse on affordance theory by extending the role of facilitating conditions. Specifically, the outcomes achieved by the actualization of certain affordances can serve as facilitating conditions that support the perception and eventual actualization of other affordances.

DOI

10.17705/1jais.00962

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