Right to repair laws are a disability justice issue for those of us who need technological devices for our basic ability to function in the world. All of these things integrate with our bodies and lives in a deeply intimate level.
We may need to fix our wheelchairs, scooters, or powerchairs, things that give us mobility. We may need to understand our hearing aid, cochlear implant, screen reader, brailler, augmentive / assistive communication devices. Or we might need to maintain, troubleshoot, and repair prosthetic devices – a limb, a motorized brace, an exoskeleton, even an eye. They are our essential companions, part of our cyborg selves. Assistive tech shouldn’t be treated as a sort of rental or subscription, a cash cow service needed by the desperate to be exploited, or a throwaway victim of planned obsolescence.
Because of that tension, disabled people are often at the forefront of right to repair advocacy.
This helpful page from repair.org outlines the current legal landscape, state by state, for those of us who are fighting to fix our assistive tech: What are my repair rights?
Currently, there are state right to repair laws in California, Minnesota, Colorado, and New York; another bill is up for review in 2025 in Oregon and in many other states!
While this issue hits especially hard for disabled people, it’s just good common sense in many ways for anyone who buys or uses electronic devices.
It also makes sense for protecting the environment from piles of useless trash that pollutes the land around it with materials extracted from the earth at a great human and ecological price. The less we waste, the better – for everyone.
