Title: Universal access and diversity in co-constructed digital disability communities
Start/end of the project: October 2025-September 2028
Background of the project: This research is funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and part of the European doctoral research network CoCoSo (Co-construction in the field of social welfare). The network aims to improve participation for social service users as well as social service providers through co-constructed practices, policies, and actions.
Aim: This project examines digital accessibility, participation, and inclusion of neurodivergent people without intellectual disability. It critically analyses the accessibility of the platform bidok, the diversity of its content, contributors, and readers, and the ways in which knowledge about disability is co-constructed. The project asks which digital barriers exist, how emerging digital technologies shape participation, and how neurodivergent users experience inclusion in digital communities. It looks at digital accessibility and neurodivergence from a social work and human rights perspective, using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-CRPD) as a central reference point. While the project explores which digital barriers neurodivergent individuals encounter, it also looks athow and where digital spaces open up possibilities for autonomy, peer support, and alternative forms of participation.
Method: The research will take place at the disability rights platform bidok, which is the largest platform on disability rights, independent living, and inclusion in the German-speaking world. The project aims to contribute to discussions in social work, disability studies, and social policy, and to develop practice-oriented impulses for strengthening digital participation of neurodivergent people through analysis of bidok’s content and archive. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines policy analysis, content analysis, internet ethnography, interviews, and workshops, the project investigates how digital environments and institutional practices affect access and participation. Particular attention is paid to co-construction processes and lived experiences of neurodivergent users. By addressing both structural barriers and inclusive potentials, the project contributes to a nuanced understanding of digital accessibility and inclusive digital community-building.