Introduction

People with disabilities encounter limited opportunities for participation in all areas of life. The areas  of education and work are particularly relevant in this regard. Despite all progress, conventional  learning and working environments and processes continue to possess multiple barriers for people  with diverse disabilities. 

Digital technologies and tools offer great potential for overcoming these access and utilisation  barriers. However, new barriers may emerge due to inadequate accessibility, incompatibility with  existing technologies and incorrect assumptions about the users’ aptitudes and knowledge.

Invitation for contributions

In this session visions, projects and new approaches for research, development and evaluation will  be presented and discussed. We welcome presentations addressing the following topics: 

• Digital technologies (software, apps, assistive technology) to support people with disabilities  in different educational settings and work environments
• Accessibility of education-related technologies and environments
• Accessibility of work-related technologies and environments
• Participatory development and evaluation of advanced assistive technologies for education,  work and everyday tasks
• Use of immersive technologies (AR, VR, MR), robotics, AI or gaming in advanced assistive  technologies

The objective of this session is to convene researchers and developers who are engaged in the  development and evaluation of advanced assistive technologies. The exchange of knowledge and  scientific and technical expertise is paramount to enhance the inclusion and participation of people  with disabilities in education, labour and everyday life.

Chairs

Research Cluster “Technology for Inclusion and Participation” (TIP), TU Dortmund University

Susanne Dirks, TU Dortmund University, susanne.dirks@tu-dortmund.de

Bastian Pelka, TU Dortmund University, bastian.pelka@tu-dortmund.de

Jens Gerken, TU Dortmund University, jens.gerken@tu-dortmund.de