Infrastructural precarity

The condition of unreliable, inconsistent, or inadequate technological infrastructure that shapes and constrains how people — particularly disabled people and those in the Global South — can access and use digital technologies. Infrastructural precarity encompasses unreliable internet connectivity, low-end or shared devices with limited storage and processing power, inconsistent electricity, fragmented assistive technology support across device ecosystems, and the economic barriers to maintaining current hardware and software. For accessibility, infrastructural precarity means that theoretical access (an app is compatible with screen readers) does not guarantee practical access when the user's device is slow, internet drops mid-task, storage limits prevent receiving media, or the phone is shared with family members who may change settings. Designing for accessibility must account for these material conditions, not just interface compliance.