Rethinking Universal Accessibility: A Broader Approach Considering the Digital Gap
Abstract
“Universal Accessibility” aims at including all people with disabilities
in the target population for user-centered design. It is usually focused on the
needs of people with disabilities, frequently including elderly people. Current
advancements in Design for all may require complex equipment, advanced
network environments, or computer training. Therefore, these products or services
may fall out the reach of many people with disabilities because of economical,
technological or formative restrictions. This is a frequent situation in
countries where poverty is associated with barriers to obtain assistive technologies
and services. This Workshop aims at rethinking the concept of Universal
Accessibility in order to find ways to include all excluded people with disabilities.
The main objective of this workshop, organized on behalf of the IFIP WG
13.3 HCI and Disability for HCI, is to discuss the possibility of broadening the
Universal Accessibility concept to include geopolitical and socio-economical
circumstances. To this end, attendees will try to find agreed answers to questions
such as: Can the Universal Accessibility concept be extended in order to
include people with disabilities also affected by other barriers such as poverty,
illiteracy, lack of access to advanced technology, etc.? Is it possible to create
accessibility guidelines that also consider affordable devices, deprecated technology,
cultural issues, or illiteracy? More information about this workshop including
a call for participation and post-publication plans can be found in:
http://www.egokituz.org/WS/RethinkingUA/