Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design for All and eInclusion

Collaborative design involving end users has emerged as a response to the needs felt by various organizations of adapting software to specific environments and users. During time, users and environments evolve; this is another reason why software has to be modified. Different stakeholders, including consultants, designers internal to the organization and, recently, end users, have to collaborate among themselves, and possibly with the software providers, to shape software. Such stakeholders face fundamental challenges in learning how to communicate and in building a shared understanding. Researchers are now addressing such challenges. This paper contributes to this innovative research by formally defining visual mediation mechanisms for collaborative design. A case study illustrating their application is discussed.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the acomplishments of contemporary design, focusing on its flexibilible and adaptative features – meeting demands of migrating, mobile societies. With the expansion and popularization of information and communication technologies in the last decades, traditional space-use patterns evolved. Divisions and borders between work and leisure, public and private slowly loose their importance. Users often seek “multi-use”, “multi-task” and “open space” solutions. Research is based on projects developed at the Faculty of Architecture, Poznan University of Technology, under supervision of the Author.

Nowadays a wide range of input devices are available to users of technical systems. Especially modern alternative interaction devices, which are known from game consoles etc., provide a more natural way of interaction. But the support in computer programs is currently a big challenge, because a high effort is to invest for developing an application that supports such alternative input devices. For this fact we made a concept for an interaction system, which supports the use of alternative interaction devices. The interaction-system consists as central element a server, which provides a simple access interface for application to support such devices. It is also possible to address an abstract device by its properties and the interaction-system overtakes the converting from a concrete device. For realizing this idea, we also defined a taxonomy for classifying interaction devices by its interaction method and in dependence to the required interaction results, like recognized gestures. Later, by using this system, it is generally possible to develop a user-centered system by integrating this interaction-system, because an adequate integration of alternative interaction devices provides a more natural and easy to understand form of interaction.

The interface is an essential part of every video game. However, research in the understanding of the modern game player’s preferences is lacking. This paper reports the preliminary findings from the evaluation of a computer game user interfaces that determines specific user preferences.

The creative process of design is at the foundation of serious game and simulation development. Using a systematic approach, the designer of serious simulations or games analyzes the best approach that would deliver an interactive learning experience; one that will harnesses growing forms of behavior, requiring both the learner and technology to engage in an open-ended cycle of productive feedback and exchange. According to Collins [1], “Beyond simply providing an on/off switch or a menu of options leading to ‘canned’ content, users should be able to interact intuitively with a system in ways that produce new information. Interacting with a system that produces emergent phenomena is what I am calling interactive emergence” (4th Annual Digital Arts Symposium: Neural Net{work}).

The design of multimodal adaptive applications should be strongly supported by a user centred methodology. This paper presents an analysis of the results of user trials conducted with a prototype of a multimodal system in order to elicit requirements for multimodal interaction and adaptation mechanisms that are being developed in order to design a framework to support the development of accessible ICT applications. Factors related to visual and audio perception, and motor skills are considered, as well as multimodal integration patterns.

This paper discusses approaches for specifying workflows based on task models. These task models represent activities of stakeholders in different ways. It is shown how the development process of workflow specifications can be supported to get hierarchical, structured and sound specifications. Further on, a language CTML is introduced that was developed to specify activities in smart environment. The language has the potential to be used to specify general workflow specifications as well. It is demonstrated how cooperative work can be specified using this language.

There are always discrepancies when abstract design concepts are transferred to solid products. How to make sure that design concepts are conveyed exactly via products? To develop the early stage prototypes for tests and surveys is one of the solutions. The research applies POE (Post-Occupancy Evaluation) on prototypes of students’ design cases repeatedly. The result revealed that product prototype POE can anticipate the performances of products in final evaluation as an evaluation can predict post-production consumer reception. It suggests that performances of product prototype by POE would be clarified if extraneous variables are under strict control in advance. Two cases show chaos phenomenon, to probe into the field of students’ design activities with grounded theory might help to unearth some discovery.

This paper describes the development of the “Usability and Accessibility” course for M.Sc. students at the IT University of Copenhagen. The aim is to examine whether this course provides an effective and useful method for raising the issues around Universal Access with the designers of the future. This paper examines the results and conclusions from the students over 5 semesters of this course and provides an overview of the success of the different design and evaluation methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effectiveness of each of the specific methods, techniques and tools used in the course, both from design and education perspectives.

Even if the problems concerning HCI are individually solved, it is not easy to relate to a big value solution. It tends to be some small improvements of narrow scope. Therefore, this proposal pays attention to the situations in which the problem occurred. It was attempted to clarify the domains to be re-designed by uing mathematical analysis methods with use-state keywords as data extracted from the descriptions of situations. Consequentially, it is understood that there is a possibility of this method through a trial experiment. And, some limits of this method were found. Additionally, the difference with the result of a common classification method was confirmed by a comparative experiment.

Although different techniques for supporting the process of designing exist, there is, at present, no easy-to-use and pragmatic way of helping designers to infer and analyse product representations that users form in their heads and to compare them with designers’ own understanding of products. This paper is part of ongoing research that attempts to develop an approach for supporting designers in identifying, during the early stages of the design process, whether specific product features evoke similar understanding and responses among the users as among the designers of those features.

This study aims to present an expert systems’ performance evaluation model, which will then be used to evaluate an existing expert system as a way of testing its applicability. The proposed model’s evaluation criteria are: usability, utility, quality, interface, structure, productivity and return.

Information systems, especially expert systems, are today a real necessity for any organisation intending to be competitive. Given this scenario, organisations investing in these systems, aim to, progressively, ensure that the investment they’ve made is contributing to the organisation’s success.

Hence, it is fundamental to evaluate the expert system performance. The evaluation assesses an expert system’s adaptability to its original requisites and objectives and determines if its performance satisfies its users and meets the organisation’s strategic goals.

This paper presents the results of a study that specifically looks at the relationships between measured user capabilities and product demands in a sample of older and disabled users. An empirical study was conducted with 19 users performing tasks with four consumer products (a clock-radio, a mobile phone, a blender and a vacuum cleaner). The sensory, cognitive and motor capabilities of each user were measured using objective capability tests. The study yielded a rich dataset comprising capability measures, product demands, outcome measures (task times and errors), and subjective ratings of difficulty. Scatter plots were produced showing quantified product demands on user capabilities, together with subjective ratings of difficulty. The results are analysed in terms of the strength of correlations observed taking into account the limitations of the study sample. Directions for future research are also outlined.

There can often be a gap between theory and its implications for practice in human-behavioral studies. This gap can be particularly significant outside of psychology departments. Most students at the undergraduate or early graduate levels are taught how to design experiments and analyze data in courses related to statistics. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of materials providing practical guidance for running experiments. In this paper, we provide a summary of a practical guide for running experiments involving human participants. The full report should improve practical methodology to run a study with diverse topics in the thematic area of universal access in human-computer interaction.

This paper is a brief discussion on the issue of modeling evolution. The question posed is where does modeling theory come from and where is it going. A parallel is drawn between the evolution of modeling theory and ancient philosophy. In the end both must come to the conclusion that a theory must be applicable to a human problem and must lead to a solution of that problem. Otherwise, it is useless. It is pointed out, that some methodological approaches are even detrimental to reaching a good solution. They only absorb costs and effort and lead to nowhere. Just as Aristotle rounded out the ancient philosophical discussion, the S-BPM method appears as the next logical step in the evolution of modeling methods. In the end, some research issues are discussed, for the S-BPM method as well as for modeling comparison in general.

The paper motivates the explicit recognition of communication and hands-on experience when stakeholders design work processes, both, on the individual and on the organization level. As a straightforward implementation Subject-oriented Business Process Management is reviewed. Its constructs for modelling and resulting capabilities for seamless execution when using a corresponding suite are discussed. In particular, it is shown how stakeholders can articulate their way of task accomplishment in terms of communication relationships while producing an executable model. As the behaviour of all participating stakeholders in a specific business process can be expressed in terms of communication acts, adjusting individual and task-relevant flows of communication leads to a complete picture of an organization in operation. Moreover, subject-oriented representations allow executing the resulting workflow without further transformations. They enable interactive experience of business processes which in turn facilitates (collective) reflection and redesign. In this way, stakeholders can trigger and control seamless round-trips in organizational development. It minimizes development costs and social risks, since alternative ways of task accomplishment can be negotiated before becoming operational in daily business.

We describe the motivation for research aimed at extending predictive cognitive modeling of non-expert users to a broader population. Existing computational cognitive models have successfully predicted the navigation behavior of users exploring unfamiliar interfaces in pursuit of a goal. This paper explores factors that might lead to significant between-group differences in the exploratory behavior of users, with a focus on the roles of working memory, prior knowledge, and information-seeking strategies. Validated models capable of predicting novice goal-directed exploration of computer interfaces can be a valuable design tool. By using data from younger and older user groups to inform the development of such models, we aim to expand their coverage to a broader range of users.

The development of digital technology has changed the way users interact with products and forced industrial design educators to rethink the role of design education with respect to both the integrity and suitability of current design curriculum. This study is sought to figure out a better way for teaching/ learning Interaction Design in the discipline of Industrial Design with considerations to the nature of interaction design and students’ learning mode. A newly created interaction design methodology will be introduced in this paper, and the case study on the application of this approach to a graduate school level interaction design course should explain how this methodology can be manipulated in the development of an interaction design, making teaching/ learning Interaction Design more effective and enjoyable.

If you find distance between user’s model and designer’s model, the system is not good. We made a scale constructed with six viewpoints of similarity and practiced it. In result, we found possibility to measure a satisfaction at usability, roughly. If we complete this study, this method is useful for all interface designer and usability engineer.

Accessibility in ICT and web-based applications has become an issue of great importance during the last years. However, the notion of accessibility was until recently undervalued in the web services domain. Trying to fill this gap, this paper presents work conducted towards enabling web services (WS) with accessibility characteristics, trying to ensure that HCI through applications utilizing them is accessible. For this purpose, a WS accessibility assessment framework has been deployed, having as basis guidelines which if followed, can ensure that accessible WSs are developed. In order to further facilitate the development of accessible WSs, a WS accessibility assessment tool has been developed on the basis of the proposed framework. In its current implementation, the tool is capable to automatically assess whether SOAP- or REST- based services conform to proposed guidelines. Thus, by using this tool, developers can be significantly facilitated towards developing accessible web services, or also enriching their already developed not-accessible ones with accessibility characteristics and so as to make them accessible.

This paper discusses the variability of websites accessibility using a multi-dimensional evaluation that considers specific sets of relevant guidelines according to different devices and different disability types. We use an accessibility evaluation framework that is able to explore different combinations of guidelines from web content accessibility and mobile web best practices. It was applied to evaluate a set of interesting case studies. The obtained results show that the web content presents different accessibility issues regarding specific disability types, always a subset of the universal accessibility assessments. Regarding the devices’ dimension, results of the assessment show significant differences depending on the web resource representation for different devices. In all cases the dissimilarities between the general accessibility assessment and the evaluation for specific disabilities were visible.

Accessibility today is gaining more and more ground, becoming a real necessity in daily living and every day needs. Authorities and experts are putting a lot of effort towards accessibility, especially in the software application domain. Despite this fact the ICT applications and systems are still not fully accessible. The main idea of the ACCESSIBLE project is to contribute towards better accessibility for all citizens. This will be achieved by increasing the use of standards and by the development of an assessment simulation environment, as well as, a harmonized methodology that links all the accessibility components. In the current paper we will present to the reader the general harmonised methodology introduced in ACCESSIBLE project to correlate the proposed accessibility components. Attention will be also given to the evaluation of the ACCESSIBLE harmonised methodology, as well as the future plans.

Modern Web sites leverage several techniques that allow for the injection of new content into their Web pages (e.g., AJAX), as well as manipulation of the HTML DOM tree. This has the consequence that the Web pages that are presented to users (i.e., browser environment) are different from the original structure and content that is transmitted through HTTP communication (i.e., command line environment). This poses a series of challenges for Web accessibility evaluation, especially on automated evaluation software.In this paper, we present an evaluation framework for performing Web accessibility evaluations in different environments, with the goal of understanding how similar or distinct these environments can be, in terms of their web accessibility quality.

This paper presents the most significant results, emerging from the users’ evaluation of the accessible solutions developed (and/or utilised as starting point) in the ÆGIS IP project (Open Accessibility Everywhere: Groundwork, Infrastructure, Standards; http://www.aegis-project.eu) of the 7

th

European Framework Programme. Users participating in the first out of the three in total evaluation rounds scheduled within the project represented all user clusters targeted by the project. The emerging results, which are considered overall positive, will constitute the basis for the optimisation to be held until the next evaluation round of the project.

This paper describes the evaluation framework developed in the ÆGIS IP project (Open Accessibility Everywhere: Groundwork, Infrastructure, Standards; http://www.aegis-project.eu) of the 7

th

European Framework Programme, in the context of its overall User Centered Design plan, focusing on the experimental planning of its first out of the three scheduled evaluation rounds. The ÆGIS evaluation framework may serve as a valuable manual for testing in the overall eInclusion area, beyond the narrow context of the project.

The premise of this research is to present the final results of an investigation, which looked at a means to automate the rating of web pages according to their accessibility to specific user groups. These groups include visual impairments, mobility restricted and dyslexia. This research identifies three integrated, user-centred studies that assisted in the development of this work. The research conducted for this project has collected data that will help to develop a better method for disabled users to search for and easily locate accessible web pages. It has investigated how web pages can be rated for accessibility using specific algorithms that have designed according to user defined ratings of accessibility. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that re-ordering search results, by ranking web pages according to user defined ratings, could provide a better user experience for people with disabilities.

For people with cognitive disabilities, access to mainstream content is crucial, for educational materials, and for access to other information and services essential to participation in society. Key features for these users are clear, simple presentation (of navigation and interaction as well as content), multimodal presentation to assist with difficulty in processing text, and access to definitions of unfamiliar terms. Simple configurability of presentation, ideally via online profiles, is also important. The Fluid project family is developing technical approaches for realizing these facilities automatically, without requiring content and service providers to develop separate sites for accessibility.

Multimedia content covers the Web, and we should provide access to all people. For this reason, we must consider including accessibility requirements in a synchronized manner with the alternative resources such as caption and audio description among others. In addition, it is very important to take into account accessibility requirements in the player to avoid barriers and to ensure access to this multimedia content as well as their resources. This paper presents an overall study on standards and players with accessibility requirements. Moreover, solutions to improve the accessibility features in the YouTube player are presented. Based on this study, we have distinguished a set of guidelines to take into account for including accessibility requirements in players. Furthermore, we suggest an agile evaluation process which indicates the order of accessibility guidelines to check. Finally, the proposed evaluation method is put into practice with a case study: accessibility features are evaluated in three widely used players.

The current situation for the accessibility assessment of web applications is encouraging, though not sufficient. Many efforts have been made for the development of various tools that carry out the evaluation of web pages. However, their effectiveness is somehow incomplete. In this work we propose a new framework that has adopted the latest web standard and supports a plethora of assessment configurations to meet the user needs.

This paper presents the design and implementation of an interactive portal and a standalone tool to act as mediators to a number of accessibility assessment facilities for Web Content Accessibility Assessment, Mobile Web Content Assessment, Web Services Assessment and Description Languages (SDL). More specifically, the design approach followed is briefly outlined in order to get an insight on the underlying rationale and the specific benefits gained in terms of the final outcome. Subsequently, the architecture adopted for achieving the goals set by this research work are presented, together with the specific technical characteristics of the approach followed for the development of the two interactive applications. Finally, the deployed versions of these applications are presented, revealing the complete set of facilities and tools and discussing their advantages and benefits from the point of view of the development of accessible applications and services.

This paper introduces the TactoWeb tool. TactoWeb is a Web browser allowing users with visual impairment to explore Web pages using tactile and audio feedbacks. It is used in conjunction with the Tactograph device or the iFeel mouse. We first present a comparative study of existing tools that give users with visual impairment access to Web pages. The aim of this study is to identify the capabilities and limitations of these tools in order to define important features which are needed to improve navigation on the Web for users with visual impairment. TactoWeb is designed to make spatial navigation possible, with better audio and tactile feedbacks. It should be superior to sequential exploration with only audio feedback.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines represent an opportunity to provide concrete, structured guidance for designers and developers regarding how to build accessible web pages. However, there is currently a lack of evidence regarding which techniques contained within WCAG 2.0 produce accessible websites. This paper presents a methodology for evaluating implementation techniques with remote users and demonstrates its use in evaluation techniques for one Success Criterion of WCAG 2.0.

This paper presents the Web Navigation Helper (WNH), an interface agent for users with special needs originally developed for Brazilian users. WNH mediates scripted interaction with web sites, by providing alternative dialogs with appropriate style, structure, etc. The paper reports the results of qualitative empirical studies done at the early design stages. In particular, it shows how our design vision changed when findings from initial studies revealed that the technology we were about to develop was implicitly guided by a sociability model that was not prevalent in the Brazilian culture. The main contributions of the paper are to expose the process by which we became aware of cultural factors affecting the design of accessibility agents, and to propose a kind of technology that may be adopted in cultures whose sociability models are based on personal relations with friends and family members.

This paper describes the main issues related to the design of user adaptive interaction systems, in order to discuss their applicability to a specific domain: the automatic generation of accessible user interfaces for people with disabilities who make use of ubiquitous services. Advances in the domain of the accessible Web are especially interesting for this purpose. Nevertheless, even if several procedures are similar, there are specific features that require new approaches, such as the formal specification of the functionality of the interface that will be generated.

Searching information on web turned to a matter of course in the last years. The visualization and filtering of the results of such search queries plays a key-role in different disciplines and is still today under research.

In this paper a new approach for classifying the search intention of users’ is presented. The approach uses existing and easy parameters for a differentiation between explorative and targeted search. The results of the classification are used for a differentiated presentation based on graphical visualization techniques.

The paper discusses new possible facets regarding the concept of

adaptation

, focused on allowing users to intervene in the process by having the possibility both to insert new data and to alter the structure of ontological knowledge bases which contain adaptation determinants. The approach is based on the exploitation of the synergy between Web 2.0 and Semantic Web and may give the opportunity to obtain more personalized, comprehensive and tailored service to all users, by allowing user communities to model a domain of interest and to develop it according to their interests. The paper discusses background ideas and gives technical details of an example implementation of a software component designed to perform ontology evolution based on the analysis of contributions expressed by users of a service in natural language.

This paper describes the European Union funded project GUIDE, focusing on the issues of multimodal and context adaptation techniques, as well as in the importance of having a multimodal system architecture based in user models and integrated with fusion and fission mechanisms in order to give elderly and impaired users several input and output modalities in their interaction with TV and set-top box based technology. The possible future role of GUIDE in the development of accessible applications is also focused.

New ways of communication are now possible thanks to adaptive multimodal systems, enabling the improvement in accessibility of ICT applications to all users. We are developing a project which combines TV with a multimodal system in order to overcome accessibility and usability problems by impaired users. This paper is focused on the fission of outputs, and how the presentations of applications running on GUIDE’s environment are adapted to the user’s capabilities.

The lack of accessibility of ICT applications affects mainly the disabled and/or elderly people, who have a high risk of social exclusion. Using the advantages of adaptive multimodal systems and a well-accepted device like the TV, those difficulties can be surmounted and social exclusion can be stopped. GUIDE intends to simplify the interaction and at the same time not limit the users able to use it, providing multimodal interaction. Also, applications running on GUIDE environment will be able to adapt, on an automated way, to the user’s needs and characteristics.

Mobile devices and other computationally-capable artifacts are presenting new ways in which to interact with our applications and data. However, to do so effectively requires user interfaces that are op- timized for the target platform. Designing such user interfaces manually for every platform and application would be an impractical way to ap- proach this problem; this is one area where automatic user interface generation could prove useful. This process, however, requires guiding logic, formalized from usability knowledge and represented in a form that an automatic UI generation system can use. This paper discusses some of the issues related to this task, presenting examples from the relevant literature. The paper then introduces the concept of genericity, which could help manage the problem space encompassed by automatic UI generation.

Multimodal interfaces offer its users the possibility of interacting with computers, in a transparent, natural way, by means of various modalities. Fusion engines are key components in multimodal systems, responsible for combining information from different sources and extract a semantic meaning from them. This fusion process allows many modalities to be effectively used at once and therefore allowing a natural communication between user and machine. Elderly users, whom can possess several accessibility issues, can benefit greatly from this kind of interaction. By developing fusion engines that are capable of adapting, taking into account the characteristics of these users, it is possible to make multimodal systems cope with the needs of impaired users.

This paper introduces a suite of Window Managers purposed for the technologically enhanced classroom. The overall objective is to instantiate a common look and feel across various classroom artifacts, thus providing a unified working environment for the students and teachers. To achieve optimal interaction and application display, the workspaces for each artifact are designed keeping in mind both the platform’s characteristics and the user’s requirements. The usability evaluation of the developed system is reported.

In this paper we present a possible approach to improve accessibility and usability of software applications through shared user models. Previous work in adaptive user interfaces has relied on local and domain specific user models, which lack in scope and detail. Shared user models can increase the accuracy and depth of data used to adapt the interfaces and user interactions. This research focuses on the accessibility of touch screen mobile devices for users with low vision and mobility impairments.

User interface designers and engineers are faced today with unprecedented challenges. Applications are progressively required to run on multiple computing platforms and accommodate the capabilities of different devices. Users and context are significantly characterized by diversity, leading to a very broad range of accessibility and interaction requirements and preferences that need to be adequately addressed. The current approach of designing separate user interfaces, one for each target use, is time consuming, error prone, and does not adequately addresses the challenges of cross-platform consistency, universal access and integration. To this end, this paper proposes a new integrative approach to multi-device user interface development for achieving device-independence by-design and further pursuing improved levels user experience for all through adaptive presentational models for various devices and contexts of use. Explanatory examples that were implemented in the context of the REMOTE R&D project are also presented.

As the basis of generating nonverbal expressions in animated agents, this paper proposes factors that account for cultural difference in nonverbal behaviors in negotiation interaction. First, we introduce theories of negotiation and cultural characteristics. Then, our analysis of human interaction in negotiation conversations in CUBE-G corpus is described. Finally, by integrating cultural and negotiation parameters with empirical data obtained in the corpus analysis, we design a parameterized network model that generates culture specific nonverbal expressions in negotiation conversations.

This study aims to investigate user behaviours and preferences for the usage of search engine interfaces and to provide a user-centred search engine interface with various functions and services that cater to user needs and personalisation along the Web2.0 trend. A survey was conducted to examine the relationship between user behaviours and interface needs for Web2.0 search engines. Some influential factors in association with user issues and Web2.0 concepts were proposed as design principles for a personalised search engine interface design. Then, a conceptual search engine interface, which matched the theory-driven principles and practical experiences, was developed. It matches the concept of user-orientated services and provides every user with personalised search engine interface that offers mash-up search results and multiple functions. Users are allowed to share search results while using a personalised interface. Through the new concept of search engine interface, the convenience of the search process will include more convenient search procedures that meet personal needs.

The overarching goal of UA is affording all individuals, regardless of disabilities, geographic status, infrastructure, age or training background, the use and benefit of information technology. The goal of this paper is to raise awareness of

the security and privacy cyber risks in the everyday use of UA technology

. The challenge of UA technology transfer from the laboratory to real world setting leads us to identify vulnerabilities of UA users and to present examples of cyber security strategies to safeguard data. The principles of confidentiality, integrity and availability guide our non-exhaustive review of concrete UA approaches and their security and privacy implications for everyday use. We examine the cyber risks to privacy and security of brain computer interfaces and UA home networking and conclude with call to interdisciplinary collaboration between the security and UA expert communities to ensure the transitioning of safe and secure UA technologies to the end-users.

One way to secure Information Technology (IT) systems is with authentication mechanisms that distinguish between users. Users who differ in their cognitive and motor abilities, cultural background and personal characteristics should be able to operate the IT system including its security features. If system design fails to consider user diversity, users might bypass or disable the security feature, reducing system security. Providing universal accessesibility and acceptability is generally a challenge, especially when dealing with IT security. We present a conceptual model that explores and establishes guidelines for the inclusion of biometric authentication in systems which serve a wide range of users. Aspects of this model were examined in laboratory settings using a task which simulates mobile access to an eBanking system with biometric authentication. Younger and older participants used the authentication mechanism. The age groups clearly differed in their interaction with the IT and the security system. Designing security system for universal access remains a major challenge.

This paper reports results from a focus group interview and a field study, which includes 28 visually impaired PC users in Norway. The main goal of the study was to identify benefits of, and barriers to, use of ICT for the visually impaired, and to propose measures to remove barriers. The use of Internet services, mobile phones, kiosks, ticket machines, ATMs, and queuing management systems, were studied. Visually impaired users’ encounters with technology were investigated through a focus group interview, observation of task-solving activities, and semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed that several commonly used ICT services, such as online banking, electronic forms, and learning material have major accessibility problems. The first barrier is often mechanisms for registration and authentication. The proliferation of inaccessible everyday technologies, unstable systems, and lack of training constitutes other major challenges. Based on the findings some suggestions for further development and research priorities are suggested.

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation. Despite these expenditures, health outcomes in the U.S. rank surprisingly low among industrialized countries. While access to care and socioeconomic status are strong indicators of health, individual and collective notions of health are the most powerful health improvement assets; no treatment compares. This paper explores the decisions underlying the sociotechnical design of the SpeakHealth online community—a project jointly undertaken by medical professionals, media designers, and information scientists to encourage healthy, mindful behaviors, and to enlist support for structural changes in national healthcare policies and practice. Here we report on the multidisciplinary challenges faced, and decisions made, in crafting its social media strategy and related online community design. The project outcomes made clear that the dynamics between the stakeholders and the professional cultures of these domains was a powerful factor influencing the design of online community.

With the current explosion of digitally available products and services, a societal transformation has occurred in which social inclusion demands ability to use current devices and digital media. Those unable to use such products and services are disadvantaged in this new landscape. This paper examines key areas in which technological advances have benefited disabled users and older members of society: language, mobility, life skills, and technology access. Continuing efforts to address these topics are considered from the perspective of a new UK research center that addresses social inclusion.

Cloud computing holds great promise for addressing the barriers that keep people with disabilities, low literacy and aging-related impairments from fully engaging with technology. However, using cloud-based computing to make assistive technology (AT) more widely available also raises legal and policy issues. The Americans with Disabilities Act, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Communications Act, and other disability rights laws support increased availability of AT. However, what should the balance be between built-in accessibility and cloud-based access? There are also limits to the requirements and coverage of these laws, and issues about the definition of accessibility as technology develops. Copyright and digital rights are potentially implicated by cloud-based AT, as well as privacy and security rights. The needed infrastructure and interoperability of cloud based AT may raise concerns for technology developers that regulation may stifle innovation or reduce commercial viability.

There is a number of persons lacking basic knowledge about computers and other IT-related products and equipment. When facing problems there is a need to ask someone. A telephone support function could be a way to include people.

The objective of CARDIAC (Coordinated Action funded by EU’s 7th FP) is to create a platform that can bring together the various stakeholders in the area of accessible and assistive ICT with a view of identifying R&D gaps and emerging trends and generating a research agenda roadmap. The project consists of three pan-European structured dialogues. The consortium organized a virtual structured dialogic design co-laboratory to collect and investigate obstacles that might appear during the three subsequent dialogues to identify potential threats and risks in order to take corrective measures in a timely manner. In response to the Triggering Question “In view of the three upcoming dialogues, what obstacles and threats do you anticipate that might compromise the quality of the outcomes,” they came up with 23 potential threats. The SDD process revealed greatest sensitivity to five.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss best practices in web site compliance with Section 508 among Federal agencies. Individuals involved with 508 compliance at three different federal agencies were interviewed, to determine how their agencies meet 508 compliance requirements. The discussion includes specific evaluation methods used, such as how users with disabilities are involved, how often they perform usability testing, and what software tools are used on an ongoing basis for evaluation. It also examines the policies in place, such as the possibility of losing a content management system account for repeatedly posting non-compliant web content. We also compare the best practices in accessibility compliance from U.S. Federal agencies to approaches taken in other countries, such as Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Digital inclusion and citizenship are closely related, because they strive for equal opportunities related to education, learning, better living, well-being, access to information and building up knowledge. ICT are advantageous for everyone, but for persons with disabilities they have an utmost importance – they bridge the gap between impossible and possible ways. Many legal frameworks and practices coexist in the same country or differ widely in scope and structure from one country to another, regarding eInclusion. Besides all, they target citizenship and human rights, as well as the digital market.

As we move more to a digital economy and integrate technology every more completely in all aspects of life there is a looming crisis for a growing number of increasingly marginalized individuals. The accessibility technologies we have are meeting the needs of only some, at high cost – and will not work with many new technologies. In addition, the pace and path of technological change predestines these approaches to fail in the very near future. At the same time, the incidence of disabilities is increasing as our population ages. The same technical advances however hold the key for a radical paradigm shift in our approach to accessibility that can harness the pace of innovation and have it work for us rather than against us. Proposed is the development of a Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) that can tap the unprecedented ability to pool resources and match demand with supply enabled by the Cloud to deliver accessibility to every individual where they need it, when they need it and in a way that matches their unique requirements; automatically so that they do not need to negotiate, explain, qualify or justify.