ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at several difficult economic issues surrounding new information technology for disabled students. New information technology for disabled students is developed through stages that do not differ very much from those for many other inventions. Developing the technology through all these stages is usually costly, and the price of any device or system produced specifically for disabled students is likely to be rather high. One way to overcome the problem of manufacturing cost and risk is to find a commercial use for the new technology which will recover the investment, but leave the device or system available for use at marginal cost to disabled people. Governments have an important role in promoting and funding research and development, either directly or by subsidising hardware and software when it is purchased by disabled people. Developers and suppliers are mainly in the nonprofit sector at present, with the exception of a few companies making communication aids.
