Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo
From an anthropological viewpoint, “accessibility” is not so much a technological and design project as it is a cultural construction, a cognitive schema through which graphic designers and technologists imagine audiences and create appropriate graphic designs that will be “accessible” to that audie...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84999 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/42060 |
| _version_ | 1811689262914994176 |
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| author | Peterson, M. A. Panović, Ivan |
| author2 | School of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Humanities and Social Sciences Peterson, M. A. Panović, Ivan |
| author_sort | Peterson, M. A. |
| collection | NTU |
| description | From an anthropological viewpoint, “accessibility” is not so much a technological and design project as it is a cultural construction, a cognitive schema through which graphic designers and technologists imagine audiences and create appropriate graphic designs that will be “accessible” to that audience. The ethnographer's task is the specification of key actors, institutions and discourses active in the making and remaking of accessibility in a given context. In this article, we examine how Egyptian Web producers at the turn of millennium (1999–2001) sought to design Web portals that would allow the “typical” Egyptian to easily access the World Wide Web. We argue, first, that Egyptian Web producers are deeply influenced by national and international discourses that frame IT as a national mission for socioeconomic development. Second, we found that in the absence of clear definitions of the Web audience, Web producers imagined a “typical” Egyptian that contradicted their own experiences of users of the Web. Finally, we found that Egyptian Web producers largely borrowed pre-existing models, using design elements to “inflect” their sites with an Egyptian motif. However, the conceptual models of access and related design strategies created by Egyptian Web producers were out of touch with Egyptian social realities, contributing to a collapse of most Web portal projects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:45:19Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/84999 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:45:19Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/849992020-03-07T12:10:38Z Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo Peterson, M. A. Panović, Ivan School of Humanities and Social Sciences From an anthropological viewpoint, “accessibility” is not so much a technological and design project as it is a cultural construction, a cognitive schema through which graphic designers and technologists imagine audiences and create appropriate graphic designs that will be “accessible” to that audience. The ethnographer's task is the specification of key actors, institutions and discourses active in the making and remaking of accessibility in a given context. In this article, we examine how Egyptian Web producers at the turn of millennium (1999–2001) sought to design Web portals that would allow the “typical” Egyptian to easily access the World Wide Web. We argue, first, that Egyptian Web producers are deeply influenced by national and international discourses that frame IT as a national mission for socioeconomic development. Second, we found that in the absence of clear definitions of the Web audience, Web producers imagined a “typical” Egyptian that contradicted their own experiences of users of the Web. Finally, we found that Egyptian Web producers largely borrowed pre-existing models, using design elements to “inflect” their sites with an Egyptian motif. However, the conceptual models of access and related design strategies created by Egyptian Web producers were out of touch with Egyptian social realities, contributing to a collapse of most Web portal projects. 2017-01-24T04:52:30Z 2019-12-06T15:55:11Z 2017-01-24T04:52:30Z 2019-12-06T15:55:11Z 2004 Journal Article Peterson, M. A. & Panovic, I. (2004). Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo. New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 10(2), 199-219. 1361-4568 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84999 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/42060 10.1080/13614560512331325991 en New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia © 2004 Taylor & Francis |
| spellingShingle | Peterson, M. A. Panović, Ivan Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo |
| title | Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo |
| title_full | Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo |
| title_fullStr | Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo |
| title_full_unstemmed | Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo |
| title_short | Accessing Egypt: making myths and producing web sites in cyber-Cairo |
| title_sort | accessing egypt making myths and producing web sites in cyber cairo |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84999 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/42060 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT petersonma accessingegyptmakingmythsandproducingwebsitesincybercairo AT panovicivan accessingegyptmakingmythsandproducingwebsitesincybercairo |