Resources search

Database of disability and inclusion information resources
You can search the resource database by using the categories to the left or by typing a title, author or keywords in the search box above. Alternatively, you can browse the most recent resources below.

My entrepreneurial journey: as a young person with cerebral palsy

SMITH, Lizzie
September 2023

Expand view

A short talk given in the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

The development of a company who creates children’s picture books to aid the delivery of complex disability and illness-related news to young children (0-5 years old) is outlined. The personal experiences from which the resources were developed are described (the author and company owner has cerebral palsy and has degrees in fine art and pyschology).

Inclusive innovation [at Google]

PATNOE, Christopher
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

A short talk highlighting Inclusive Innovation at Google.

 

Topics highlighted in the approach taken are: AI; "nothing about us without us"; get started on one thing; this is a process.

Products briefly outlined are: automated captions; real time captions (Google Meet) in 14 languages; interlanguage translation (14 languages); on the phone, live transcribe (80 languages); the ability of the phone to inform deaf people of sounds e.g. laughter, appliances going off; and phone live captioning. 

What fails: and what's not needed, Disability Dongles

HOLLOWAY, Catherine
LANDRE, Anna
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

A discussion concerning disability dongles (expensive technical solutions to disability problems without sufficient design input from disabled people - examples include a stair climbing wheelchair and an exoskeleton). Setting up networks of disabled people to input requirements, contextualisation of issues (for example the lack of repair facilities for wheelchairs especially in the global south), telemedicine, and the difficulties in appropriate funding for appropriate projects are discussed.

  

What works

AUSTIN, Vicki
McKINNON, Anne
BELL, Diane
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

Outcomes of the first 5 years of the AT2030 project are summarised including: 15 AT country capacity surveys; 11 new assistive technologies; 31 AT ventures brought to sustainability and 70 journal papers. Funding thus far and for the future is also discussed.

Work to supply hearing aids to those with hearing loss in the global south, particularly in South Africa is outlined. Areas highlighted include: work with suppliers; work to ignite innovation and provide products at scale; work with UNICEF and the procurement catalogue; work with HEARX to provide screening and aid fine tuning via a phone app to enable community health AT service.

Questions from the audience highlight issues surrounding acquiring AT in the emergency/humanitarian setting  

How disabled people are leading innovation and systems change in the UK

KANODIA, Kush
September 2023

Expand view

The most important part of innovation in systems change is the lived experience.

The successful campaign to eliminate car park charges for people with disabilities at NHS hospitals in the UK is outlined. (Charges from over 200 hospitals are now dismissed).

The ongoing campaign to exempt all people with disabilities who are "Blue badge" holders from charges associated with ULEZ (ultra low emission zones) or the equivalent in cities in the UK is also described. The importance of integrating climate action and disability rights is highlighted.  

Resisting cooptation of disability justice revolutionary dreams

BROWN, Lydia, X. Z.
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023

 

A short talk concerning the disability justice framework. The framework was co-created by a coalition of disabled people, mainly of colour and from the LGBT community in 2005-2006.

Topics discussed include: disability rights, institutions, ableism and the wider meaning of disability justice.  

Disability justice and stigma – Pathways to change

PUNEET, Singhal
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

A short talk highlighting disability intersectionality, from personal experience of multiple unseen disabilities, poverty, marginalisation and abuse.

The work of the Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities is highlighted.

Beyond Barriers: Journeying from Exclusion to Inclusion with R2D2 and NCAHT-IITM

SRINIVASAN, Sujatha
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

Challenges in the development and bringing to market of functional, affordable, high quality AT devices are outlined. The development of the manual standing wheelchair and the lessons learnt in taking it from prototype to market (using the GRID model) are introduced. The challenges of affordability and of awareness of AT including by professionals is highlighted. The work of the National Centre for Assistive Health Technologies (NCAHT at AIIMS, New Delhi) including experience zones of architectural barriers where people can try wheelchars on different surfaces and realise that disability is imposed by the environment is briefly described. Wheelchair skills training and community outings are part of the centre. Other topics mentioned include: the need to normalise disability; the need for collaborations; funders; scalability; fragmented markets and the need to access global markets 

Learning opportunities for blind students - numeracy, logical thinking and accessible artifacts

PODDAR, Roshni
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023

 

The development of SEEDS (Scalable Educational Experiment with Digital Empowerment) by a collaboration of Microsoft Research India, Vision Empower and the Centre of Accessibility in the Global South, IIIT Bangalore, is described. India has over 240,00 children with visual impairment. The system uses feature phones rather than smart phones, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) - to enable the child to be rung back and HEXIS for braille. The use, piloting and challenges of the system are briefly outlined.

Can para-sport drive community-level change in Sub Saharan Africa

WONG, Jennifer
MAGALASI, Mufunanji
NKHOMA, Samuel Nakhozwe
MOGALO, Sheila
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

Short presentations and a discussion are reported concerning the transformational change associated with para-sport in Sub Saharan Africa, highlighting Sport for Development, Para Sport against Stigma and I'mPOSSIBLE. 

Commentary of the highlights of the Tokyo Paralympic games were translated into the Malawian local language and were shown in mobile cinemas. Theatre for development produced provocative performances with communities re sports and stigma. The importance of a Paralympic sportsman visiting schools as a role model is highlighted. The journey of Malawi from having no paralympic athletes in London to today is outlined, highlighting the transformational growth in the ecosystem of educators, supporters, trainers, coaches and national technical officials. The importance of para-sport in reducing stigma is emphasised.  

Catalyzing action for millions more people to access assistive technology in LMICs

BIJLEVELD, Pascal
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023

 

ATscale has a goal of reaching 500 million more people, mostly in low and middle income countries, with AT by 2030.

This short talk focusses on major fundamential issues found in the first 2 years of operations:

  • Awareness - lack of awareness of AT even amongst health professionals
  • Fragmentation - AT is not a sector and is fragmented in types of AT (vision, hearing, mobility etc), in ministries involved (social welfare, health, education etc), in civil society and in the private sector
  • Expertise - implementation is a challenge. AT needs to be built as a discipline

The start-up model for disability innovation in Africa

CHIIRA, Bernard
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

Innovate Now and innovation drivers, the role of innovators, the innovation ecosystem, and access to funders are introduced.

Breaking communication barrier in Ghana using Google’s Project Relate App

AYOKA, Gifty
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

A short presentation highlighting the difficulties of people with communication difficulties and the role and importance of speach and language therapists and of Google's Project Relate app. The app leverages machine learning to aid individuals with non standard speach in real time. The importance of local language and cultural diversity is stressed.  

Local innovation and production ecosystem building in Nepal

OLDFREY, Ben
BAJRACHARYA, Amit Ratna
GURUNG, Ganga
LAL SHRESTHA, Pratisthil
CHANDRA THAPA, Ram
September 2023

Expand view

A series of short talks concerned with local innovation and production of AT devices in Nepal given by representatives of members of the associated ecosystem. A short history of the projects is presented. The devastating earthquake in 2015 and COVID both demonstrated the necessity for local innovation, production, repair and maintenance of AT. Three workstreams are ongoing: codesigning for individual needs; manual wheelchairs; and repair and spare part production. The need to develop local OT services in Nepal, particularly of bespoke provision, codesigning with the user to ensure achievable goals with a developed therapeutic intervention plan, is highlighted. Innovative AT associated with the knee joint and a diabetic foot and also a temperature monitoring device are shown and problems with local product validation are highlighted.  Ram Chandra Thapa (founder of Zener Technologies) describes the use of 3D printing in emergency engineering situations. He briefly describes his current project concerning wheelchairs, outlining associated difficulties, the local production ecosystem and the assessment of which parts are the most important for maintenance needs. The need for training and also finance to take a product from innovation to production are mentionned.

Future tech: revolutionary solutions and AI – the new face of disability inclusion?

HOLLOWAY, Catherine
CHO, Youngjun
CAVE, Richard
MWENDA, Brian
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

Three short talks on future technologies and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). All three emphasise the importance of co-creation with people with disabilities. 

 

Topics in the first talk include: contributions of the use of AI to SDGs; problems with regulation; improved holistic understanding of non-communicable diseases; street route optimisation for peope with visual impairment; speach to text apps; storytelling for people with dementia; self care biosensors; improvements in the information seeking journey (example motor neurone disease)

 

The second relates to experiences in Ghana with people with cerebral palsy/speach and language issues and a speach recognition technology project carried out with Google. Issues with measurement of success are raised.

 

The third introduces work being carried out on mobility solutions for people with visual difficulties in Kenya and Hope Tech.

 

The start-up model for disability innovation in Africa: A journey through the eyes of an entrepreneur in Ghana

OMARI, Derrick
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

Three models of disability innovation start-up are introduced based on 8 years of experience mainly in the area of the education of children with disabilities in Ghana. The models are: the community centred approach; the student led approach; and the hybrid model which is revenue driven. Outcomes and difficulties are briefly discussed.

Accessibility and inclusion for deafblind people living in the Global South

KAMENOPOULOU, Leda
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.
 

A short presentation concerning the challenges surrounding inclusion of and accessibility for deafblind children and adults, particularly in the Global South.

Deafblindness is a spectrum and so a spectrum of approaches and of assistive aids is required. The most common cause of deaf blindness is aging. Most research has been carried out in the Global North. Very little has been carried out in the Global South or into the intersectionality with poverty, race and gender. 

Systems and action to advance disability inclusive financial services in the UK

WARDROP, Pollyanna
TOWNSEND, Kathryn
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

The importance of access to financial services and the challenges and work towards solutions are briefly overviewed with particular reference to innovation in the Nationwide Building Society in the UK.

Priorities identified for long term decision making concerned with services for people with disabilities were people with learning disabilities/neurodivergence/dementia, deaf people and the customer experience. The Nationwide introduced British Sgn Language (BSL) virtual interpretation for deaf people using a third party interpreter to enable independent banking. Difficulties encountered concerning risk and governance are highlighted.  Lessons learned and other progress e.g. provision of letters in BSL are briefly mentioned.

Disability inclusive financial services

DECKER, Daniella
September 2023

Expand view

Presented at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by the GDI hub on 13 Sept 2023.

 

A short presentation concerning the work of the International Finance Corporation and financial services in general towards inclusion and empowerment of people with disabilities. 

Topics covered include: disability commitments; expansion of the disability economy; the European Accessibility Act; generating awareness in financial services providers; links with partnership companies; Cephable - a company introducing use of ATMs with facial expressions; work of large banks and also of small ones in Columbia and India; and momentum towards change and the challenges associated with it. 

Pages

E-bulletin