Assistive technologies : short overview and trends

This paper gives a brief overview of currently existing assistive technologies for different kinds of disabilities. An elaborate discussion of all types of assistive technologies is beyond the scope of this paper. Assistive technologies have evolved dramatically in recent years and will continue to be further developed thanks to major progress in artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and other areas. Previously, assistive technologies were highly specialized and were often difficult or expensive to acquire. Today, however, many assistive technologies are included in mainstream products and services. An introduction and state of the art of assistive technologies are presented first. These are followed by an overview of technological trends in assistive technologies and a conclusion

Accessibility of mobile platforms

This paper compares accessibility features of two popular platforms from a user perspective. The comparison is based on accessibility features for different kinds of disabilities such as vision, hearing or physically challenged users. A section on accessibility in mobile applications follows. According to a survey, the use of mobile platforms by people with disabilities is dramatically increasing. New accessibility features are introduced for each release of these platforms which makes them an affordable assistive technology

Barrierefreier Tourismusraum Bodensee

Das Projekt "Barrierefreier Tourismusraum Bodensee" ist ein Projekt des IBH Living Labs AAL1, das von der Internationalen Bodensee Hochschule IBH gefördert wird und bei dem Hochschul- und Praxispartner aus der Schweiz, Deutschland und Österreich beteiligt sind. Das Ziel dieses Projekts ist die systematische Identifikation von Barrieren, die Menschen mit Assistenzbedarf antreffen, wenn sie Ferien im Bodenseeraum verbringen oder eine Ferienreise dort unternehmen wollen. Sodann soll erforscht werden, wie gut heute existierende Assistenztechnologien und -services helfen, die identifizierten Barrieren zu überwinden. Zu diesem Zweck werden einerseits sogenannte Hotel-Living-Labs etabliert, die mit verschiedenen Assistenztechnologien und -services ausgestattet sind, um die identifizierten Barrieren soweit möglich abzubauen. Basierend auf diesen Hotel-Living-Labs wird schliesslich ein umfassender Service für Ferien und Ferienreisen entwickelt, um Menschen mit Assistenzbedarf möglichst barrierefreie Ferien und Ferienreisen zu ermöglichen. Die Feriengäste haben zudem während ihres Ferienaufenthaltes die Möglichkeit, weitere Assistenztechnologien und -services auszuprobieren, die ihnen auch zu Hause nützlich sein könnten

A flexible software architecture concept for the creation of accessible PDF documents

This paper presents a flexible software architecture concept that allows the automatic generation of fully accessible PDF documents originating from various authoring tools such as Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word. The architecture can be extended to include any authoring tools capable of creating PDF documents. For each authoring tool, a software accessibility plug-in must be implemented which analyzes the logical structure of the document and creates an XML representation of it. This XML file is used in combination with an untagged non-accessible PDF to create an accessible PDF version of the document. The implemented accessibility plug-in prototype allows authors of documents to check for accessibility issues while creating their documents and add the additional semantic information needed to generate a fully accessible PDF document

SLAM for Visually Impaired People: A Survey

In recent decades, several assistive technologies for visually impaired and blind (VIB) people have been developed to improve their ability to navigate independently and safely. At the same time, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques have become sufficiently robust and efficient to be adopted in the development of assistive technologies. In this paper, we first report the results of an anonymous survey conducted with VIB people to understand their experience and needs; we focus on digital assistive technologies that help them with indoor and outdoor navigation. Then, we present a literature review of assistive technologies based on SLAM. We discuss proposed approaches and indicate their pros and cons. We conclude by presenting future opportunities and challenges in this domain.Comment: 26 pages, 5 tables, 3 figure

Delivering together for inclusive development : digital access to Information and knowledge for persons with disabilities

This report focuses on digital inclusion as it relates to four of the 17 Goals for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda: SDG 9 - Innovation, Industry, and Infrastructure, SDG 16 - Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals, SDG 4 - Quality Education. For each of the goals, a number of major challenges and key recommendations are defined. Finally, general recommendations are given for improving global digital inclusion overall

Accessible digital documentary heritage : guidelines for the preparation of documentary heritage in accessible formats for persons with disabilities

This publication recognizes the importance of digitization of culture for persons with disabilities within the fulfillment of their right to universal access to cultural and linguistic heritage. Going beyond providing a general understanding of the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in getting access to digitized documentary heritage, the publication offers a set of guidelines to ensure that digitized heritage documents are accessible to persons of all abilities. The guidelines help parties involved in the digitization of heritage documents, such as librarians, archivists, museums workers, curators, conservators and concerned stakeholders in carefully planning digital platforms and contents with a view to incorporating disability and accessibility aspects. By following certain standards for accessibility and incorporating assistive software and hardware tools into the development phase, digital documentary heritage repositories will allow those with vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments to access and participate in culture. The guidelines have been structured in such a way that makes it easy for different types of stakeholder to navigate and assess various aspects to which they must commit to. For this purpose, two types of guidelines are proposed: a) basic guidelines – intended for stakeholders who commission documentary cultural heritage platforms; and b) advanced guidelines – prepared for content creators of these platforms. This resource reiterates the commitment of the Communication and Information Sector at UNESCO to support Member States in ensuring universal access to cultural and linguistic heritage without leaving anyone behind, strengthening the foundations for global Knowledge Societies that pave the way for Sustainable Development Goals

PDF Accessibility of Research Papers: What Tools are Needed for Assessment and Remediation?

Trillions of documents online are in PDF format, but only a small amount of these PDF documents include the necessary markup to make them accessible for people with disabilities. This paper presents the results of three related data collection efforts: a survey (with 61 participants), interviews (with 6 participants), and usability testing (with 6 participants), to learn more about what tools are needed for content contributors, to assist them in the assessment and remediation of accessibility in PDF documents. The paper provides suggested features and usability needed for software tools to support PDF document accessibility, as well as implications for content creators, scientific publishers, as well as the creator of the PDF format, Adobe

Accessible PDFs : applying artificial intelligence for automated remediation of STEM PDFs

People with visual impairments use assistive technology, e.g., screen readers, to navigate and read PDFs. However, such screen readers need extra information about the logical structure of the PDF, such as the reading order, header levels, and mathematical formulas, described in readable form to navigate the document in a meaningful way. This logical structure can be added to a PDF with tags. Creating tags for a PDF is time-consuming, and requires awareness and expert knowledge. Hence, most PDFs are left untagged, and as a result, they are poorly readable or unreadable for people who rely on screen readers. STEM documents are particularly problematic with their complex document structure and complicated mathematical formulae. These inaccessible PDFs present a major barrier for people with visual impairments wishing to pursue studies or careers in STEM fields, who cannot easily read studies and publications from their field. The goal of this Ph.D. is to apply artificial intelligence for document analysis to reasonably automate the remediation process of PDFs and present a solution for large mathematical formulae accessibility in PDFs. With these new methods, the Ph.D. research aims to lower barriers to creating accessible scientific PDFs, by reducing the time, effort, and expertise necessary to do so, ultimately facilitating greater access to scientific documents for people with visual impairments