Makerspaces As Places of Empowerment

Blog Post by S. Mahar

Makerspace = Community

While we homo sapiens have been makers for the past 70,000 years, the Maker movement was in effect born with the publication of Make magazine in 2005. As delineated by Make Magazine, the Maker movement "embraces innovation, creativity, and learning to improve our communities and create a better feature. Tinkerers, educators, parents, and professionals are included, because we are all Makers. That includes you." (2018)

Credit: makermedia.com (2018) 

Makerspace & Accessibility

A defining characteristic of the movement is inclusivity. Yet, there is little evidence that the reality of the movement matches with the ideal. One issue with the limited reach of the Maker movement is that people with disabilities could directly benefit from the do-it-yourself and collaborative approach to technologies like 3D printing, coding, robotics and circuitry but in many ways they do not have free access to these spaces. People with disabilities often use adaptive technology in their everyday lives because many public spaces and commercial technologies are not designed to accommodate their diverse needs. Therefore, some people require specialized equipment to cope with the limitations of everyday design. A Makerspace is essentially a workshop that is perfectly suited to creating customized adaptive technologies. With increased awareness, the Maker movement and Makerspaces could also become an empowerment movement for those with disabilities to custom design technologies to suit their unique needs and preferences and to change the way their disabilities are perceived by others.

Yet, a market research survey completed by Make Magazine in 2012 found that 80% of Makers were male, had a median income of $106,000, and that 97% have attended at least some college. (It’s interesting to note that this survey didn’t seem to ask respondents about their racial or ethnic identity). While the ethos of the Maker movement is one of collaboration and inclusiveness, the above information indicates that the reality is likely much more homogeneous than one might initially assume. As a result, the movement lacks diverse voices and therefore has a difficult time attracting broad participation across demographics.

Creating Welcoming Spaces

Makerspaces are a direct offshoot of the Maker Movement. They are community spaces, often located in places like schools and libraries, where people have access to equipment such as 3D printers, robotics equipment, and laser cutters and, often, experts and workshops. In theory, these spaces allow more access to specialized, often expensive, technologies. However, not all Makerspaces are designed with all users in mind.

Credit: 3dprinting Night - Majocchi by WeMake Milano CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 

 The University of Washington has compiled a list of guidelines for accessibility and universal design (2015). Some of the items included in these guidelines are considerations like:

• Is the space wheelchair accessible? 
• Entrances 
• Level of counters 
• Storage and supplies 
• Does the space consider those with visual impairment? 
• Are signs high-contrast and large-print? 
• Are magnifying glasses available? 
• Is the space consistently organized? 
• Are braille labels used? 
• Are there quiet spaces for group meetings to accommodate those with hearing impairment or those with sensory needs? 
• Are educational materials and or workshops accessible? 

These guidelines ask those setting up a Makerspace to approach the space from a perspective of Universal Design--to make sure that the space works for all people.

What’s more, in both the guidelines from The University of Washington and recommendations from a report (2018) by Kim, Edouard, Alderfer, and Smith, from Drexel University’s ExCITe Center, the importance of including representations of a diversity of users is expressed. For example, showing diverse users in promotional materials or on websites is key to making these spaces more welcoming to those who do not regularly use these spaces. It should also be noted that this recommendation not only applies those with disabilities, but also to individuals of diverse cultural and racial backgrounds and gender identity, as it has been shown that using stereotypical language limits participation in tech-oriented fields.

Credit: ExCITe Center, Drexel University 

Design With, Not For

A central tenet of Maker Culture is openness and collaboration, so more voices involved in the design of these spaces would help the movement to grow beyond homogeneous “geek” stereotypes of the middle-aged, middle/upper class male. As noted in the Drexel study, “while makerspace planning efforts have traditionally focused on new tools and training, culture creation is often unintentional.” (Kim et al., 16, 2018) To create a culture of inclusivity that includes mixed-ability users those users must be involved in the foundational stages. Furthermore, the report notes that “fully committing to diverse representation in leadership, instructors, mentors, and participants, particularly in terms of gender and ethnicity, fosters a culture of inclusive and creative thought. (Kim et al.,16, 2018) This idea should be extended to include mixed-ability users.

It is important to include stakeholders holders from step-one. If the goal is to invite everyone and anyone into a Makerspace, there should be a diverse group of people involved in the design process. It is one thing to be aware of what a person in a wheelchair needs or of accommodations for those with visual impairments, but it is yet another thing to experience a space in those ways. Organizations setting up Makerspaces should seek out the input and ideas of individuals with disabilities from the initial phases through to the completed project.

Adaptive Technologies

If a space can be created for Makers of all abilities, then there is space for those who are identified as having disabilities to gain more agency and control in their lives. There are many types of assistive and adaptive technologies available commercially for all types of physical impairments. However, most of these designs lack customization and are expensive. Due to those factors, DIY assistive technology isn’t a new concept. As Meissner, Vines, McLaughlin, Nappey, Maksimova and Wright explain: “while DIY is not an unfamiliar concept in AT, it seems to be mainly understood as a practice of able-bodied people with a technical background who are part of the extended care network around a person with a disability” (1054, 2017). While assistive devices created by people close to the individual user will likely better meet that person’s needs, the user still lacks a level of control and agency one find through the creative process. However, there is no one more familiar with the needs of the user than the user themselves, so it makes sense to put DIY tools directly at the user’s disposal.

Credit: Oregon Department of Transportation [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

Empowerment Spaces

By constructing mixed-ability Makerspaces, a place is created where people are empowered to design for themselves. In the study by Meissner et al., DIY-Ability workshops were offered to participants in three areas: 3D printing, laser cutting, and electronics. Participants were also given time in these workshops to create and work on their own projects. In the study the individuals all came up with a unique piece of adaptive technology that utilized the tools available and that met a specific, individual need. As noted, “the DIY-Abilities workshops enabled the participants to take on a new maker identity that allowed them to act on individual accessibility issues, use their skills to help others and show expertise”(1062, 2017). This type of opportunity should be more widely accessible. There are at least 400 Makerspaces across the United States, there is no reason that this should be such a rare experience.

Credit: DIY e-textile bend sensor prototyping by Plusea CC BY 2.0

The objective of commercial assistive technology (AT) design is to meet the needs of a large enough group of individuals to make the product profitable; this limits the variety of AT available. The intersection of a person with disabilities’ specific needs along with their individual interests and preferences also means that there are many niche areas that are under-served. It is highly possible that “the flexible DIY practices and the supportive environments of maker communities may facilitate more individualized and creative design ideas while lowering the cost of development” (Rajapakse, et al., 2014).

DIY-AT is also a way for people to express themselves creatively. For example, 10-year old Jordan Reeves created a 3D printed prosthetic that shoots glitter, called Project Unicorn. This project was incubated through KIDmob’s Superhero Boost, which asks the question: “What happens if we address a missing limb as a blank canvas rather than a disability?” Participants were able to work along with professional designers to create their own wearable devices. What if all Makerspaces could function similarly as empowerment spaces for those with disabilities? Not only as places for those individuals to change the way they interact with the world, but to fundamentally change how the rest of the world seems them.

DIYAbility also works to empower those with disabilities to hack existing technology and to create their own devices as a means of empowerment:



As technologies change, the possibilities for adaptive technology design does too. While commercial industries are experimenting with 3D printing using innovative materials, it seems only a matter of time before a wider variety of materials become more readily available to consumers. This rapid development makes it even more imperative that Makerspaces become truly accessible to all individuals. Ensuring that people with a diversity of life experiences are included in the maker community, will result in innovations that are beneficial to more people in more ways. 

Resources

Kim, Y.E., Edouard, K., Alderfer, K., Smith, B.K., (2018) Making Culture: A National Study of Education Makerspaces. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/smahar/Desktop/Making%20CultureFull%20Report%20(1).pdf.

Maker Magazine (2018). Retrieved from https://makermedia.com/.

Meissner, L.J, Vines, J., McLaughlin, J., Nappey, T., Maksimova, J., and Wright, P. (2017)

Do-It-Yourself Empowerment as Experienced by Novice Makers with Disabilities. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '17). ACM, New York, NY, USA,1053-1065. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1145/3064663.3064674

Rajapakse, R., Brereton, M., Roe, P., & Sitbon, L. (2014) Designing with people with disabilities: adapting best practices of DIY and organizational approaches. In OzCHI '14 Proceedings of the 26th Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference on Designing Futures: the Future of Design, ACM, Sydney, Australia, pp. 519-522. Retrieved from https://eprints.qut.edu.au/81939/.

University of Washington (2015) Making a Makerspace: Guidelines for Accessibility and Universal Design. Retreived from https://www.washington.edu/doit/sites/default/files/atoms/files/Making_a_Makerspace_8_03_15.pdf