Slacktivists or Activists?: Identity Work in the Virtual Disability March

Protests are important social forms of activism, but can be inaccessible to people with disabilities. Online activism, like the 2017 Disability March, has provided alternative venues for involvement in accessible protesting and social movements. In this study, we use identity theory as a lens to understand why and how disabled activists engaged in an online movement, and its impact on their self-concepts. We interviewed 18 disabled activists about their experiences with online protesting during the Disability March. Respondents' identities (as both disabled individuals and as activists) led them to organize or join the March, evolved alongside the group's actions, and were reprioritized or strained as a result of their involvement. Our findings describe the values and limitations of this activism to our respondents, highlight the tensions they perceived about their activist identities, and present opportunities to support further accessibility and identity changes by integrating technology into their activist experiences

Assessing the value of the information provision for enhancing the autonomy of mobility impaired users. Madrid pilot Site Study.

A City is the space where every person acquires the citizen condition, which demands access to multiple services and facilities, and develops social relations in a free and equal condition of options. A lack of accessibility limits independency and autonomy. Thus, the relationship between “sustainable development” and “accessibility for all” becomes clearer, and both goals reinforce each other. In this sense, information plays a key role in order to overcome existing barriers, specially for people who rarely use public transport, have impaired mobility, or make a particular journey for the first time. The impact and benefits is linked with public transport as a “facilitator” of mobility, and, in particular, for the aim of intermodality. The usefulness of information that should be provided (both the information itself and how is offered) to mobility impaired users (MI users) is discussed on this paper based on following of the ASK-IT project that has being carry out on Madrid. The work was done in close cooperation with representatives of all different types of MI user groups

Healthcare Robotics

Robots have the potential to be a game changer in healthcare: improving health and well-being, filling care gaps, supporting care givers, and aiding health care workers. However, before robots are able to be widely deployed, it is crucial that both the research and industrial communities work together to establish a strong evidence-base for healthcare robotics, and surmount likely adoption barriers. This article presents a broad contextualization of robots in healthcare by identifying key stakeholders, care settings, and tasks; reviewing recent advances in healthcare robotics; and outlining major challenges and opportunities to their adoption.Comment: 8 pages, Communications of the ACM, 201

Community Instruction and Vocational Learning

This meta-synthesis on community-based instruction and vocational learning in special education explores the training and skills individuals with disabilities require need to survive and thrive in employment and post-school activities designed to improve self-reliance, personal responsibility, and increase exposure to the community and all of the activities and opportunities that exist there. Substantial barriers must be addressed for all individuals with disabilities, but particularly for those individuals with moderate to more severe disabilities. Through proper trainings, and the utilization of the necessary tools and equipment, individuals with disabilities will continue to increasingly transition into meaningful employment and community-based programs intended to build self-sufficiency

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

A Universalist strategy for the design of Assistive Technology

Assistive Technologies are specialized products aiming to partly compensate for the loss of autonomy experienced by disabled people. Because they address special needs in a highly-segmented market, they are often considered as niche products. To improve their design and make them tend to Universality, we propose the EMFASIS framework (Extended Modularity, Functional Accessibility, and Social Integration Strategy). We first elaborate on how this strategy conciliates niche and Universalist views, which may appear conflicting at first sight. We then present three examples illustrating its application for designing Assistive Technologies: the design of an overbed table, an upper-limb powered orthose and a powered wheelchair. We conclude on the expected outcomes of our strategy for the social integration and participation of disabled people

Universal Design and Visitability: from Accessibility to Zoning

National Endowment for the Art

A Framework for Integrating Transportation Into Smart Cities

In recent years, economic, environmental, and political forces have quickly given rise to “Smart Cities” -- an array of strategies that can transform transportation in cities. Using a multi-method approach to research and develop a framework for smart cities, this study provides a framework that can be employed to: Understand what a smart city is and how to replicate smart city successes; The role of pilot projects, metrics, and evaluations to test, implement, and replicate strategies; and Understand the role of shared micromobility, big data, and other key issues impacting communities. This research provides recommendations for policy and professional practice as it relates to integrating transportation into smart cities

Intellectual Disability, Digital Technologies, And Independent Transportation – A Scoping Review

Transportation is an essential aspect of everyday life. For people with intellectual disabilities transportation is one the largest barriers to community participation and a cause of inequality. However, digital technologies can reduce barriers for transportation use for people with intellectual disabilities and increase community mobility. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and map existing research on digital technology support for independent transport for people with intellectual disabilities and to identify knowledge gaps relevant for further research. The authors conducted a scoping review of articles presenting digital technologies designed to assist in outdoor navigation for people with intellectual disabilities. The search yielded 3195 items, of which 45 were reviewed and 13 included in this study. The results show that while a variation of design elements was utilized, digital technologies can effectively support individuals with intellectual disability in transport. Further research should focus on multiple contexts and types of transportation, different support needs during independent travel, real-world settings, participatory approaches, and the role of user training to enhance the adoption of digital technologies

Pedestrian Wayfinding Under Consideration of Visual Impairment, Blindness, and Deafblindness: A Mixed-Method Investigation Into Individual Experiences and Supporting Elements

In this report we discuss to-date findings of a project that aimed at assessing individual and environmental affordances in the context of human pedestrian wayfinding of visually impaired, blind, and deafblind travelers in public spaces. Our project afforded collaboration, co-design, and co-creation of knowledge between the investigators, partners at the American Printing House of the Blind and GoodMaps, the Portland State University Digital City Testbed Center, and members of the disability community. The objective of the project was to better understand how different wayfinding aids, that is, wayfinding apps, tactile maps, and verbal route descriptions, are employed by visually impaired, blind, and deafblind travelers. On that account, we examined individual wayfinding behavior and experiences of visually impaired travelers who were tasked with the completion of a set of unfamiliar outdoor/indoor routes on the campus of Portland State University. Our methodology incorporated both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the efficacy of wayfinding behavior, in general, and specifically route completion performance across a set of three routes and wayfinding aids. We expect that the insights garnered from our project drive forward the development of standards and innovation in mobile wayfinding in relation to best practices for technology-mediated pedestrian wayfinding of visually impaired, blind, and deafblind travelers in public spaces