Technology and Accessibility
On one hand, technology has enabled many people access to avenues that would have been otherwise closed. On the other hand, many of the latest and most important technologies impact certain physical capacities more than others; from telephones and radio to televisions and automobiles, nearly all of the most major innovations of the 20th Century have required certain capabilities that not all human beings possess.
No innovation is more specific in its physical requirements, nor as thoroughly significant and far-reaching as the Internet. Limitations of access to the Internet have been a topic since the first network went online (and possibly before). Accessibility options have been provided with every major computing platform, each more sophisticated and potentially satisfying than the last.
Websites which are expressly designed to provide essential services, especially governmental services, are typically more responsive to the extra steps needed to guarantee the widest range of accommodation. Additionally, private websites that seek the most inclusive possible patronage tend to understand the benefits of what most often amounts to little more than some basic programming additions.
One might say that a virtual store should have virtual accommodations, just as a physical store is required to have physical accommodations. On the other hand, numerous technologies exist that demand specific abilities. A person lacking sight must typically accept that they may not be allowed to drive an automobile — thus, regrettably, such persons are to a certain extent denied many of the benefits of such transportation (including, but not limited to, shopping, employment, banking, and so on). While these goals may be met with assistance, it is clear that the manufacturers of automobiles cannot reasonably be expected to ensure that all human beings are capable of operating one.