Challenging Western Dominance in Technology for Increased Inclusivity and Access

Description

With consideration of shifting demographics over the next 100 years, the future of design must take into account not only the production of artifacts but also its ability to evolve with the lived cultures and social relationships of its global consumers. Using the QWERTY keyboard as a basis for exploration, this presentation explores its past and current technological applications and the challenges its structure causes for other languages and cultures. This session proposes that the innovation of design solutions are rooted in global considerations versus template audiences.

Takeaway

We hope to inspire productive critiques of the systems and customs to which we adapt and how they relate to questions of access and inclusion of diverse perspectives, customs, economic status, experiences, etc. We intend to present many visual examples of languages and their writing systems, a survey of keyboards from other languages and cultures and provide a more in-depth description and analysis of the impact of the QWERTY keyboard on Korean and Persian language and culture.

Abstract

During the 19th century, industrialized nations pushed economic integration upon developing countries. To be fluent in Western ways meant colonized civilizations needed to adopt the technology, language, and forms of communication ushered in by the industrialized powers. For example, the roots of computational communications can be traced to the QWERTY type system created by Christopher Lathan Sholes. The layout of this system was designed for Latin-script alphabets and originate in the 19th century. The layout has become ubiquitous with keyboards and smart devices globally. As an artifact originally crafted by an American inventor for an English speaking audience, the functionality of the QWERTY keyboard falls short when translated for cultures with different writing systems and reading orientations. This artifact functions as an example of technology that, in order to access, requires cultural conformity. Utilizing one culture over another as a template for prototypes could lead to service gaps when internationally distributed. The future of design must take into account not only the production of artifacts but also its ability to evolve with the lived cultures and social relationships of its global consumers. This presentation will provide a brief history of the development of the QWERTY keyboard and its expansion to non-Western cultures as a means to investigate the impact of Western Imperialism from a more global, inclusive perspective. Using the case studies of the Korean and Persian alphabets, we will present an overview of QWERTY's past and current technological applications and the challenges its structure causes for other languages and cultures.