New Technologies and Services for Disabled and Elderly People in the Emerging Information Society

Developments in information technology and telecommunications are supposed to have an important impact on the possibilities of socio-economic integration of the population at large, but are particularly critical for people with disabilities and elderly people. Their impact depends on how technology is made available and accessible to all potential users. This paper discusses some of the challenges that need to be addressed in the context of the emerging Information Society. It does not aim at exhaustively reviewing current developments in technology and foreseeing in detail their likely outcomes, but rather at looking at the emerging situation, trying to figure out the main features of the new information and telecommunication environments that people will have to interact with, and what is needed to make such an environment accessible.