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DISCO-Tech: A Framework for Resisting Ableism in Emerging Technologies

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Title: DISCO-Tech: A Framework for Resisting Ableism in Emerging Technologies
Language: English
Authors: Alan R. Foley, Beth A. Ferri
Source: Teachers College Record. 2026 128(3):166-194.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 29
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Descriptors: Attitudes toward Disabilities, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Accessibility (for Disabled), Normalization (Disabilities), Influence of Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Handheld Devices, Computer Simulation, Information Technology, Information Storage, Internet
DOI: 10.1177/01614681261444567
ISSN: 0161-4681
1467-9620
Abstract: Background: Emerging educational technologies like artificial intelligence, automated assessment, and online proctoring have been adopted quickly across higher education, often without enough critical examination of how they affect disabled students and faculty. No comprehensive framework has existed to analyze how these technologies, as designed, marketed, and implemented by institutions, both reflect and shape understandings of disability. Technologies designed for disabled people often view disability as a problem to fix rather than a valued aspect of human diversity, thus reproducing the inequities institutions claim to address. Focus of Study: This paper introduces DISCO-Tech (DISability COnservation Technology Framework), a conceptual tool for critically analyzing how educational technologies position disability. The framework synthesizes Shew's critique of technoableism, Costanza-Chock's design justice principles, and crip technoscience into a unified analytical structure grounded in higher education contexts. DISCOTech considers not only whether a technology is accessible but also whether it conserves disability as a valued aspect of human diversity and whether it reflects disabled people's lived experiences rather than idealized narratives of unrestricted access. Research Design: This paper employs theoretical analysis grounded in critical disability studies, interpretive scholarship, and disability activist knowledge. DISCOTech is organized around two intersecting axes (Conservation versus Normalization and Lived Experience versus Idealization), creating four analytical quadrants. The framework is illustrated through applied analysis of learning management systems, AI tutoring tools, and proctoring platforms, showing how it reveals ableist assumptions that single-axis evaluations overlook. Conclusions: We argue that moving beyond accessibility compliance requires analytical tools that center disability as a valued form of human diversity rather than a deficit to be fixed. DISCO-Tech shows how technologies that appear inclusive can simultaneously erase disability identity, impose normative expectations, and create new burdens for disabled people, contradictions only visible through multidimensional analysis. We suggest this framework for faculty development, institutional technology review, vendor evaluation, and research at the intersection of disability and educational technology.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1506101
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Background: Emerging educational technologies like artificial intelligence, automated assessment, and online proctoring have been adopted quickly across higher education, often without enough critical examination of how they affect disabled students and faculty. No comprehensive framework has existed to analyze how these technologies, as designed, marketed, and implemented by institutions, both reflect and shape understandings of disability. Technologies designed for disabled people often view disability as a problem to fix rather than a valued aspect of human diversity, thus reproducing the inequities institutions claim to address. Focus of Study: This paper introduces DISCO-Tech (DISability COnservation Technology Framework), a conceptual tool for critically analyzing how educational technologies position disability. The framework synthesizes Shew's critique of technoableism, Costanza-Chock's design justice principles, and crip technoscience into a unified analytical structure grounded in higher education contexts. DISCOTech considers not only whether a technology is accessible but also whether it conserves disability as a valued aspect of human diversity and whether it reflects disabled people's lived experiences rather than idealized narratives of unrestricted access. Research Design: This paper employs theoretical analysis grounded in critical disability studies, interpretive scholarship, and disability activist knowledge. DISCOTech is organized around two intersecting axes (Conservation versus Normalization and Lived Experience versus Idealization), creating four analytical quadrants. The framework is illustrated through applied analysis of learning management systems, AI tutoring tools, and proctoring platforms, showing how it reveals ableist assumptions that single-axis evaluations overlook. Conclusions: We argue that moving beyond accessibility compliance requires analytical tools that center disability as a valued form of human diversity rather than a deficit to be fixed. DISCO-Tech shows how technologies that appear inclusive can simultaneously erase disability identity, impose normative expectations, and create new burdens for disabled people, contradictions only visible through multidimensional analysis. We suggest this framework for faculty development, institutional technology review, vendor evaluation, and research at the intersection of disability and educational technology.
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