Situated Ability: A Case from Higher Education on Digital Learning Environments

Universal Design (UD) is often associated with disability studies. However, UD is not about disabilities, but about designing for as many people as possible. Traditionally, disability studies are discussed through the lens of medical, relational, social, or socio-relational models. This paper proposes a new salutogenic approach instead, namely the concept of situated ability. Based on the work of Aaron Antonovsky and the salutogenic approach of ease/dis-ease model and his Sense-of-Coherence (SOC) theoretical construct, the paper proposes and discusses situated ability and the ability continuum. Situated ability is sugggested as a form of catalyzing discussions around social equity in a digital society. The proposed concept is supported with examples from an empirical qualitative study on Digital Learning Environments (DLE) used in Higher Education (HE). The empirical data was collected through interviews, and analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation (STC). The findings are discussed through the lens of the proposed concepts. Finally, the paper argues that a such perspective is needed for maintaining the dignity of others, i.e., the users who experience lower situated abilities when interacting with digital systems; for fostering salutogenic discussions about practice and design that enables users, without focusing on dedicated solutions for the lower abled, such as assistive technologies; and for social equity in a digital society.