Advances in Design for Inclusion

Recent research has shown that computer-based Assistive Technology (AT) has the potential to support individuals with disabilities in production environments. At the same time, step-by-step instructions enable workers to be successful in their performance of industrial tasks that were formerly difficult to accomplish. We merged these two types of intervention and developed an application running on a mobile device that can assist disabled workers working more independently. In an evaluation study, we investigated how our assistive system affects the task efficiency as well as participants’ subjective evaluation. Results show advantages when using the assistive prototype with regard to users’ task efficiency and subjective evaluations.

Fidgeting, while primarily recognized as a distinguishing characteristic of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism or ADHD, has also recently been recognized as a potential focus and attention aid for learning in traditional classroom environments. Everyone fidgets to greater or lesser extents, perhaps everyone can benefit from fidgeting aids to refocus attention. The recent explosion in popularity of fidgeting aids, such as fidget spinners, fidget cubes, and other toys highlights the broad appeal of these objects. Human-Computer Interaction researchers have taken an interest in the contributions of fidgeting to productivity. While these works connect the concepts of visual and motor stimulus as meaningful fidgets, little investigation has been done as to the potential contributions of haptic stimulus in digital fidgets. We designed and tested haptic mobile fidgets and compared their effects on task performance and user preference against the traditional spinner and no fidget apparatus.

Currently, wheelchair rugby athletes face the challenges of playing the sport without specifically designed sports-wear kit. A few designs and recommendations have already been proposed by researchers but none have made it to market yet. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a set of design recommendations for the development of wheelchair rugby sports-wear. This was done so that the products to be created are developed in collaboration with their potential users, responding to their particular needs and requirements. The evaluation was done through an online survey, where the athletes were presented with a visual representation of the design recommendations. The results indicate that the people questioned agree with the majority of the proposed designs and would be happy to have these improvements made to their current sports-wear. The most criticised recommendations were for the gloves, as they are the most important part of the kit, so it is important that they are adequate and allow for a good performance.

This article presents a literature review of emotional responses and stress attributable to cyberbullying. It begins with a summary of the definition of cyberbullying and then describes types of cyberbullying and the emotional reactions it can produce. Next, theoretical background studies relevant to cyberbullying are discussed. Findings indicate that most previous research used transactional model theory as a valid measure. However, this review draws attention to reliance on variations in stress and emotional state. Finally, the need for future research exploring how people momentarily cope or deal with cyberbullying events is suggested as a means of providing a temporal prediction of cyberbullying incidents.

Today’s aging phenomena is bringing about important changes in the make-up of our population with consequential need for assistance and cures, thus substantially increasing the costs sustained by society. The policies of the European Community aim to maintain general health and to promote life styles capable of sustaining a level of self sufficiency and at the same time an “intelligent” process of aging, where one remains active and healthy for as long as possibile. The education to physical activity and to sports is a very important objective, which require the development of a conscious attitude of citizens towards their own health. With emphasis on the ergonomics of design and on methods of innovation, Human Centered Design designates likely scenarios in the near future and proposes possibile solutions which concentrate on needs and expectations, allowing one to maintain an active life, through wellness and prevention. This paper presents the results of the “Smart Running” workshop, promoted by the Laboratory of Ergonomics and Design (LED) of the University of Florence in collaboration with Technogym, a leading-edge company that develops fitness equipment for any physical activity. The projects represent innovative solutions for indoor running, particularly intent on involving an increasing number of participants.

This paper outlines the evaluation of a print-based Design for All (DfA) manual. The purpose was to understand if and how a DfA manual can be used as a tool to inspire students (future architects) in designing an inclusive project to transform theory into practice. The DfA manual has been used and tested during a workshop that took place at the UDweek 2016 in Hasselt, Belgium. Our results show that the manual was favorably received, particularly in the areas of the manual’s visual presentation. Conversely, short guidelines, as mean to transfer knowledge, was perceived as too prescriptive. Furthermore, more information to generate insights on users’ needs are required and the static format of the manual can’t satisfy the different ways students prefer to access information. The research provides interesting criteria on how to create a more relevant and useable DfA manual; however, further studies are required to elaborate upon these.

The Internet of Things, smart devices, connected health and ICT have the potential to enable people, carers and families to improve the quality of health and social wellbeing. One factor that can help people with physical or cognitive impairments to learn new skills and to be connected with the world, concerns accessible interaction with media devices, such as radios, TVs, tablets and smartphones. According to input received from stakeholders of Irish-based communities of people with different abilities, one of the main barriers for users relates to a reduced level of accessibility when controlling media devices. The aim of this work is to improve users’ autonomy by providing tools that enhance users’ abilities with media device functionalities through the use of configurable prototypes of media assistive controllers. The output of the work is a proof of concept version of a methodology that matches user ability profiles to configurations of the corresponding functionalities of media assistive devices according to the Universal Design approach. This framework enables people with different abilities to independently engage with a media controller, through a multi-level interaction approach. It also facilitates users who become proficient at using a device at one level to improve their capabilities to a more complex level, requiring additional users’ interaction. Finally, it provides an example of how the ICF can be leveraged to suggest accessibility configuration parameters for devices of this type.

This paper presents some preliminary results of an anthropometric research, part of an undergoing Ph.D. study at the Department of Textile Engineering of the University of Minho, Portugal. Data was collected using a 3D body scanning technology - Kinect Body Imaging (KBI), and carried out in public and private schools, of the first cycle of basic education, located in the cities of Braga, Guimarães, and Vila Nova de Famalicão, in the north of Portugal. Preliminary results are presented aiming the development of adequate measurement tables for overweight and obese children, respecting their anthropometric and ergonomic needs. Final considerations regarding the challenges of conducting anthropometric studies are presented.

Due to the difficulties experienced by blind and weak-sighted people within shopping centers, these people often avoid to visit these spaces, being excluded from the same experience as sighted people. The aim of this study was to determine the current situation of Guadalajara’s shopping centers and to address guidelines to enhance inclusivity for people with visual impairment in shopping centers. Nine subjects, with sight disabilities, took part in a semi-structured interview to register their previous experience visiting shopping centers. After that, each subject executed a Verbal Protocol Analysis while walking through a shopping center. Data were transcribed and thematically analyzed. The results from this study suggest that Guadalajara’s shopping centers do not have an inclusive design for users with visual impairments. The participants of this study think their experience in shopping centers could be enhanced if, at least, people around them had an “inclusive culture” and offered them any help.

Floating Wheels is a serious game created and developed with the goal to assist and integrate the physically disabled in the digital environment. The software brings issues of accessibility, mainly in what refers to the urban mobility present in the daily lives of the target audience in question. The results showed that any person may make fair use of the game, attesting to its content inclusive. The users will be exposed to the rights and public policies related to accessibility, therefore, both the learning and fun will be present.

To date, outdoor game equipment and playground facilities worldwide are increasingly oriented towards a wide range of solutions in support to gaming activities for children of any age, independently from their motor, cognitive and social impairments. However, due to the complexity of variables interplaying between product demands and user capabilities, many efforts are still needed for making games and playgrounds as much as possible inclusive. The present work proposes a novel methodology useful to designers and other stakeholders for predicting the degree of user exclusion when performing play activities. User trials, focus groups, interviews together with the analysis of accessibility standards, disability descriptors by ICF, and Task Analysis were used for cross-correlating the required tasks with user capabilities. This led to creating an evaluation tool useful to get an immediate feedback and reliable information on the level of inclusiveness of any type of game equipment and user disability. It revealed to be also effective for assessing personal and environmental factors of interest and identifying design requirements.

This project will structurally optimize the robotic assistant SPELTRA (Robotic Assistant for Speech and Language Therapy) that serves as pedagogical support to children with and without disabilities who are benefiting through the UNESCO Chair and Assistance Technologies (GI-IATa) of the UPS. This process would be carrying out through the study of different geometries and materials considering certain aspects technical and economic that will help to define by weighting parameters the optimal geometry and two possible materials for the design and creation of the new structure of the robot. After, will be defined all the variables and restrictions affecting the SPELTRA during the manipulation to which it is subjected in the robot-human interaction, thus establishing the structural model. For its analysis, CAD-CAE computational tools based on finite elements will be using and it will can to observe the possible deformations, efforts and safety factor to which would be subjected.

Both, practice and education in design in Latin American countries such as Colombia, have been centred in stylistic production of forms directed towards accelerated consumption, under the premises of fashion trends. Consequently, different social problems centred in the relation body-device are left behind, especially those from minority groups, like the children population considered disabled, which require an approach from design that addresses not only the operational and functional aspects, but also those linked to an understanding from the intuitive, affective and emotional factors of their surrounding world. This talk presents the results of the project “LÚ: a system for daily life abilities learning and decision making for children with Cerebral Palsy”, carried out by the class of Design for the diverse functionalities from the Faculties of Costume Design and Industrial Design at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia.

The Research Project deepens objectives, tools and methods of a design sensitives to human perception and senses and it’s finalized to the acquisition of Community involvement, basing on an agreement with a public administration, the Municipality. The range of city_users involved are people with special needs or disabilities who, thanks to a dedicated platform and a help desk at Municipality offices, can give a contribution to the research and to the city plans of outdoor archaeological paths, heritage sites, adaptive-ergonomics urban furnishings and sustainable mobility. The ouputs expected from the research are the Creation of a map of accessible itineraries and a consequent mobile systems application; in addiction the creation of connections of “mental topographies” generates a new layer of the map, an emotional map of the city users. In Europe contexts, the possible developments are the publication of Guidelines and a recognized certification mark.

The paper analyzes the evolutionof user-centered design in a variety of approaches that have been established in the history of architecture. It leads up to the current tendency to consider the designed environment as a physiologically prosthetic phenomenon inasmuch as it favors behavioral objectives while maintaining certain requested states that are physiological and behaviorally prosthetic due to the fact that the designed environment intentionally configures specific behavioral topographies. Therefore, the degree of a design’s quality and the various scales to which it is referred follow from its ability to interrelate on a human scale; that is to say, the capability of physical elements to confront the factors that characterize a design focused on well-being: inclusive, active, and adaptive.

Over the last few years, the number of devices with touch-panel displays, such as smartphones, has increased. This research focuses on the possibility of adding tactile sensation to messaging on smartphones in order to broaden the communication. Our hypothesis is that operational certainty is insufficient when using touch panels and that tactile feedback would be effective in adding to the communication. Consequently, this study researches the effects of tactile feedback and whether it is possible to measure small nuances. Although impressions differed significantly among young smartphone users compared with senior citizens who had only recently begun to use these devices, the hypothesis was partly proved: adding vibration to messaging does increase the sense of pleasure in the process.

Over the past few years, researchers, designers and policymakers have made tremendous efforts to move towards a barrier-free society for all by enhancing the accessibility of public space. Barrier-free legislation and design guidelines for built environments have been developed in many cities. However, compared with design for individuals with mobility impairments, design for visually impaired persons (VIPs) is seldom discussed, especially with regards to open and green spaces. Based on a comparative study of Hong Kong and Beijing, this study finds that the implementation and management of public design and policy must work together to ensure effective universal design principles for open spaces. This study discusses how design can be improved to meet the needs of VIPs. Finally, the study provides some directions for researchers, planners and policymakers seeking to enhance the contribution of built environments to healthy living.

Light is just for seeing. Well, this is an old concept. Nowadays, we realise that light is needed for many other things such as synchronizing our non-visual system. Non-visual systems include the circadian rhythm, which, in turn, regulates our biological and physiological systems, as well as influences our emotional state and, therefore, plays a crucial role in our wellbeing. So, why do we keep on projecting workplaces with only 200/500 lx? This paper’s objective is to study the “do’s and don’ts” of a lighting design in a workplace design. To achieve such goals the research was conducted throughout literature review. We conclude that it is more rewarding for the companies that increase and decrease the light levels all over the day and should promote healthier human beings, which in turn will become more motivated, happier and will contribute for the good results of the company profits.

This article is focused on the teaching and learning process of eating activity in children with total blindness between 2 and 5 years old, in Medellin – Colombia; and the way in which the guardians impede their development, autonomy and independence, due to ignorance, fears or frustrations [1]. A person from the time he gets up until he goes to bed, demonstrates a motor, cognitive and psychological learning that is traced from early childhood. A child with total blindness will have a lower performance in different areas of life, for all the restrictions that he has with the perception of visual information. Unless the family incorporates teaching and learning strategies in his life [2]. From this approach, it was proposed as a general objective to design a didactic product framed to the eating activity of children with total visual disability, through the integration of techniques and teaching methods, to improve the learning process and autonomy of the child, and strengthen the relationship with his guardian/family. The artifact contains the food and keeps the elements in place, also allows the child to understand how to interact with the object during and after the activity, linking other senses such as listening and touch.

Responsive web design has pioneered the way in which modern web applications adapt to the screen. However, catering for the interaction device is not enough when aiming for the best user experience that is tailored to a specific context of use. In this paper, we describe existing and envisioned design techniques that allow a web author to adapt to the full range of parameters provided by a specific context of use. We hereby examine the four components of context of use as drivers for adaptations: the user, their task, their equipment, and their environment. In conclusion, we fathom how far we are, and what obstacles have yet to be overcome on our way to “inclusive responsiveness” on the web.

New advanced emergency management facilities such as a control room which is equipped with advanced ICT technologies should consider universal design principles and ensure the accessibility and usability of some important technical functions available in the room. This paper aims at evaluating the accessibility and usability of an experimental control room. This room has a flexible architecture, i.e., the information displays are interchangeable through drag-drop system on a control-panel. We used a complementary heuristic and user testing approach. A video analysis, open questionnaire and discussion with testers were applied to detect technology usage barriers. The results show that the proprietary control tablet and its setup has some room for improvement. Our approach can examine the sources of difficulties of our testers, especially on linking the information sources, machines and wall or desk displays. Several recommendations are outlined to be a basis for developing guidelines for future usage of this room.

Videos are embedded everywhere on the Web these days. They are becoming increasingly important to many people regardless of age, culture or individual capabilities. Unfortunately, not everyone benefits equally from online videos. There is often a big difference regarding the accessibility, usability and the resulting user experience. To close these gaps, occurring everywhere on the internet, dynamic user interfaces adapting to diverse user needs have received more attention recently. Therefore, users can meanwhile adapt a couple of sites according to their personal preferences by either switching between presentation modes or by adjusting some site settings. Taking up this idea, in this paper we examine the adaptability of online video players by focussing on two user groups: elderly people and deaf people. Based on our empirical research, we discuss issues reported by these groups and present abstract and concrete recommendations on how to realize personalized and adaptive video user interfaces for them.

Social inclusion and territorial enhancement: these are two aspects that can be closely related, especially through relational networks and information systems. In this the new technologies offer a fundamental contribution, both to encourage the involvement, monitoring and relationships between people, and to improve the fruition of the territory and of the resources it can offer. This contribution shows the results of a research project aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of a tourism interactive information system, referring in particular to a specific category of users: cyclists crossing a specific coastal area, in central Italy, rich in natural, historical, artistic resources and food and wine. In particular, the research focuses initially on the project of the information service, identifying the possible relationships and interactive connections between the cyclotourists, the territory and the different communities and stakeholders involved in the service. Subsequently, the research deepens the possible development of an information device that, inserted in specific points of the cycle path, becomes the privileged tool of interaction of the bike users with the territory and its resources.

The aim of this study was to understand the teenagers experience when using the bus service in Guadalajara City, Mexico. A total of thirty four teenagers aged from fifteen to nineteen participated in four structured focus groups. A previously designed service blueprint was used to show to participants the different stages and user actions of a door-to-door experience. They were asked to rate every interaction with the service according to the level of difficulty that they had experienced, after that each member of the group shared their views and reasons behind the assigned rating. Discussions were aimed at eliciting their views on those interactions where the bus service could be better. The most outstanding findings were that teenagers were able to identify issues and opportunity areas that could help to improve the service to be safer and more usable for other groups of users as the older people.

When technological advances include the interaction with interfaces through smartphones in order to access a service, some older adults may be left behind because their learning abilities are not taken into account. This research aimed to perform a usability evaluation of the digital parking meter service in Guadalajara, Mexico. Nineteen people participated in this study, divided into two age groups, older adults and younger people. The main evaluated task was to make the payment of 30 min of parking using any of the three methods offered by the system. It was observed that eight older adults decided to pay at a participating store. Half of the nineteen participants rated the system as regular based on the interaction they had with it. In general, the participants pointed out that it is not easy to use the system and a lot of time has to be spent to use it.

According to World Health Organization report approximately 111 million people in the world needs a wheelchair. In order to solve this problem, around the world, are developed open-source products. The first phase of the present project includes the review of state-art and evaluation of similar design proposals around the world. As a result of a search for similar projects, we found some proposals that could be adapted to México, and we decided to analyze two of them; the first one is a proposal made of PVC pipes. The second proposal to analyze is an active-type wheelchair made of plywood. The goal of this first project phase is to reproduce both chairs with the objectives: Check if the open-source platform is clear and it is feasible to manufacture the wheelchairs in a different environment to where they have been designed and check the stability, comfort, and maneuverability.

Learning management platforms are widely used in the courses in different levels. The goal of this research is to investigate the usability of the Blackboard platform a popular learning management platform. We use an eye-tracking method to investigate the usability of the platform. The analysis provided information about the points where students had difficulty interacting. The results of this experiment are intended to be used for designing a visual user interface for the instructors and students to improve the usability and user-friendliness of the learning platforms.

This work is a part of a wider research about the inclusion in the Sharing-Based Services conceptual framework. The research presented in this paper was driven from a reflection on the ability of this kind of services to be inclusive. The main objective was discovering design domains for inclusive Sharing-Based Services detecting problems, needs and peculiar cases of online communities engaged in these services. For this reason, the netnography method was adopted to conduct a qualitative research with the aim to gain insights about inclusion and exclusion concepts on selected online forums related to platform in the Sharing-Based Services conceptual framework. The research insights were reported in the paper and they were used as a first reflection to conceptualize five design domains for inclusive services.

In this work we present an innovative, low-cost Refreshable Braille Display (RBD): the key feature of the developed method is represented by a single actuated cursor that refreshes Braille cells composed of mechanically simple, passive pins. In particular, a single electromagnetic actuator, moved on a linear slider, is capable of refreshing a full row of passive pins: each pin consists in a simple metal cylinder and can be reconfigured in a low or high state by an external magnetic field. The design based on passive pins, operated by a single moving actuator, makes the cost of the device almost independent on the number of Braille cells. This is suitable for application in either portable (up to 40 Braille cells) or desktop use (more than 40 Braille cells). Moreover, once the line is refreshed, the pins require no energy to hold their configuration and can withstand very high forces applied by the reading fingers. Finally, dimensions of the passive pins, differently from traditional piezo-actuated RBDs, allow for implementation in matrices of tactile pins displaying not only Braille characters but also generic two dimensional shapes.

The case studies of inclusive higher education in selected European countries are one of the outputs of the European project: UNIALL - Accessibility of Higher Education for Students with Special Needs, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. This output is focused on the analysis and transfer of good practices of designing inclusive environment at selected universities in Europe, as well as the systemic policy and legislation configuration for inclusive design and education in selected European countries. The aim of these case studies is to present national legislative framework and solutions for comprehensive universal accessibility of higher education covering all aspects of accessibility and usability for wide spectrum of students, including those with special needs.

The purpose of this article is to propose an evaluation of integration principles between constraints resulting from the choice of technologies to be used on devices, and human needs deriving from the needs analysis of the elderly, in the field of wearable smart objects design for self-sufficient and non-self-sufficient users. The authors will describe this process according to the state of progress of HABITAT project.

Population aging and related healthcare costs already are a problem to face and will increasingly become an even more serious issue. This phenomenon triggers important social changes, highlighting the urgency of finding new dynamics and services also for the Home Care and Healthcare field. The spreading of smart objects and the Internet of Things it is possible to improve the quality of services and device performance for monitoring qualitative and quantitative parameters of elderly people with the ultimate goal of improving their quality of life. The paper therefore proposes to perform a competitive benchmarking between the selected products and the needs identified in the Habitat project, in order to determine its effectiveness; moreover, the correspondence to the needs will be evaluated from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. This work, in addition to provide a lucid and specific market analysis of the studied products, will help to identify the critical points and strengths of the smart objects. Its ultimate goal is to develop a comprehensive needs framework which provides a solid foundation in making new smart object prototypes for old people.

The design of products, systems, and services not often is driven to be socially innovative. One of the reasons could be that especially in the private sector, the impact of a Design for All approach it is not easy to assess. Nevertheless, many companies produce goods and services whose outcome goes beyond the mere consumption or experience level. Specifically, there is evidence that in different sectors (from design to food, from fashion to wellness) the level of consumer engagement is changing. In particular, it is expected that final users will experience an improvement in the quality of their lives in a more sustainable and nature-friendly way. This has often be referred to as social footprint or social impact. However, while a clear-cut measure of the environmental effects exists, that is the carbon footprint, the same cannot be said for the social footprint. Researchers and private organizations are discussing possible ways to measure it, and some have been implemented, but a general agreement on a unique definition has not been reached yet. When available, it is also unclear what it is the extent of its applications. The goal of this paper is to offer a detailed review and analysis of what it is known so far and to be able to propose a different point of view which moves from CSR and CSM to the possibility of evaluating the economical growth and success of enterprises developed from Design Driven Social Innovation. We intend to use the study to design a set of questions to be able to then interview some key experts in the area (mainly social entrepreneurs) to understand if there is a shared interpretation of the concept of the social footprint and how Design for All is being implemented, why and with which results. We also want to understand which are the key categories that could be transformed into measurable information. The study should be seen as a basis for the next steps, which are, respectively, the building of a social footprint indicator for businesses which have integrated society into strategy and its applications.

Recent statistics from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stats that about 1 in 68 or 1.5% of 8-year-old children were identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United States. Initiatives with innovative and inclusive perspectives contribute to a better understanding of the disorder, in this perspective this work presents the proposal of an ergonomic and inclusive study for the creation of a graphical environment for an educational interactive application for children with ASD, in order to help them in the identification of facial expressions and the feeling that surrounds them, aiming the improvement in their social interaction with human being.

The mass consumption products such as food packaging are designed for people without physical and cognitive limitations, becoming barriers for the elderly who present functional conditions associated with the aging process. The main problems are: (i) the decrease in force that hinders the opening of the containers, (ii) the visual limitations that prevent the reading information on the labels, (iii) the loss of fine motor skills that impossible an optimal grip, (iv) the lack of memory that generates bad brand recall, among other difficulties. Taking into account the little information that there is on the subject from the design, and the gap between what is found in the literature and the student’s experience, in terms of language complexity, approaches, analysis methodologies, etc.; was proposed since 2016 within the line of research in Ergonomics of the Industrial Design at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Medellin, the design of a simulator that replicates the functional states of the older adult (sight, hearing, fine motor, posture and walking), allowing the user to understand the built environment by students from project areas who are interested in product development destined to this market. Given the above, the objective of this article is to identify the requirements and design specifications of food packaging aimed at the elderly, implementing the set of functional state simulators, to generate designs with formal, functional, chromatic, communicative and productive adaptive characteristics to the needs of this user.