From Participation to Solidarity: A Case Study on Access of Maker Spaces from Deaf and Hearing Perspectives: Von Partizipation zu Solidarität: Eine Fallstudie zur Zugänglichkeit von Makerspaces aus Gehörloser und Hörender Perspektive

Abstract

Participatory methods open up research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that aim at involving populations that are not traditionally represented. However, they do not require researchers to actively refect on power relationships as would be required when aiming for transformative impact. In our case study of MACH S AUF, we show how research on accesssibility of makerspaces for deaf people allowed us to develop a methodological concept of solidarity driven research that goes beyond classical participation. Through a critical assessment of our activities and the implications for access qualities on the one hand and methodological considerations on the other, we present a multi-facetted and interwoven series of deliberations that such a positionality can bring along. We show how access to makerspaces has to be understood frst and foremost as structured in a socio-technical manner, where communicative access for deaf people has to be provided through sign langugage. Additionally, we illustrate how solidarity driven research is a concept that remains inherently inaccessible, but yet a worthwhile target to strive for. For the feld of HCI, we ofer a nuanced understanding of what access to maker spaces might entail from a marginalised perspective, as well as a methodological positionality that may support transformative research endeavours in the future.