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Easy Reading is a software tool supporting cognitive accessibility of web content. We want to enable people with cognitive disabilities to better read, understand and use all webpages. Our objective is to make webpages more accessible for everyone. The handbook provides information on joint research with people with cognitive disabilities, researchers and developers. In the Easy Reading project, people with learning difficulties research and develop as peer researchers.

This document explores the main legislation in the European Union regarding accessible emergency services, including the 2018 European Electronic Communications Code and the 2019 Accessibility Act. It presents the functional requirements of effective solutions, including caller location, reliability, roaming and call-back, among others. Several solutions are currently in use in different European countries, including total conversation, relay services, SMS, smartphone applications and fax. The document explores the pros and cons of these systems and defines a number of recommendations for countries implementing solutions.

Living in an informal settlement with a visual impairment can be very challenging resulting in social exclusion. Mobile phones have been shown to be hugely beneficial to people with sight loss in formal and high-income settings. However, little is known about whether these results hold true for people with visual impairment (VIPs) in informal settlements. We present the findings of a case study of mobile technology use by VIPs in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi. We used contextual interviews, ethnographic observations and a co-design workshop to explore how VIPs use mobile phones in their daily lives, and how this use influences the social infrastructure of VIPs. Our findings suggest that mobile technology supports and shapes the creation of social infrastructure. However, this is only made possible through the existing support networks of the VIPs, which are mediated through four types of interaction: direct, supported, dependent and restricted.

CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference; 2020

2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Honolulu, USA, April 2020

DOI: 10.1145/3313831.3376658

Trichiasis (TT) operations are generally conducted in remote and resource-poor settings, which can make it difficult to follow-up and assess surgical outcomes. Sightsavers developed an Android-based mobile phone application, called the TT Tracker, which helps surgeons, assistants and supervisors to collect and analyse information about surgical outcomes and performance, and to determine when and where follow-up appointments are required. 

Community Eye Health. 2019; 31(104): 93.

Background: Using assistive technology is one way to foster inclusion of students in the post-school education and training (PSET) sector.

Objectives: Higher and Further Education Disability Services Association (HEDSA) enables the sharing of new knowledge about assistive technologies through its symposia, and making information available on its website. Additionally, it facilitates dialogue and collaboration amongst institutions in the PSET network using a listserv and newsletters, given that PSET institutions are spread countrywide.

Method: This is an article based on a presentation at the 5th African Network of Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) conference in Ghana in 2017 that focused on the value of assistive technology for students pursuing studies in the PSET sector and the role played by HEDSA in South Africa.

Results: The positive gains and existing gaps in disability inclusion in the higher education sector in South Africa are highlighted, with reference to access to technology. All higher education institutions have internet access and can thereby make use of listservs to communicate information. MapAbility is a way that prospective students can gain a snapshot view of available resources at institutions of learning, using the internet.

Conclusion: An association such as HEDSA plays a critical role in the PSET sector to enhance disability inclusion using online tools to disseminate information.

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Technologies play vital roles in the learning and participation of autistic people and yet have mostly been conceptualised according to a medical model of disability. In this stakeholder review, the comments of 240 participants from a two-year seminar series focusing on autism and technology were analysed to co-construct an understanding of how research could develop more inclusively. Our socio-cultural analysis shows that stakeholders were very positive about the roles that technologies can play in many areas of life, but that these technologies need to be developed and evaluated according to the needs and preferences of autistic people and their families. We propose an inclusive common social framework for research based on the core themes of social inclusion, perspectives, and participation and agency. Such a framework requires the field to recognise that some current practices are exclusionary and that a commitment to action is needed in order to make positive changes.

The 2030 and Counting pilot project sought to give youth with disabilities a seat at the table on the SDGs – providing them with the tools and confidence they need to become their own agents of change. This report provides an overview of the project, together with learnings and recommendations for the future.

In its pilot year, 2030 and Counting brought together young women and men with disabilities and DPOs from Kenya, the Philippines and Zambia to report on and advocate for their rights through the framework of the SDGs

The project had three consecutive phases: Training, Story gathering (data collection) and Influencing. 

In total, 332 reports were collected between June and September 2018. The highest number of reports were submitted under the theme of Education (44%), followed by Work (33%), and Health (14%). The category of Other, which almost entirely focused on discrimination in daily life, accounted for 8%. 80% of reporters had smartphones, offering the potential to increase the use of this feature in future.
 

Background: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can assist persons with complex communication needs to communicate competently with a variety of communication partners in a variety of contexts. However, AAC systems and intervention often do not take multilingual aspects into consideration.

Objective: This small-scale exploratory study had three aims, namely: (1) to describe the self-reported language skills of multilingual South African adults using AAC, (2) to describe the languages and communication modalities they used in interaction and (3) to obtain their views regarding access to various languages.

Methods: Twenty-seven adults using AAC were recruited via an empowerment programme, as well as an email list for persons interested in AAC, and provided responses to a questionnaire. To compensate for access and written language challenges, the questionnaire was administered with help and/or as a face-to-face interview where needed. Responses were analysed using mostly descriptive statistics.

Results: Participants generally could not express themselves in all the languages they understood and were regularly exposed to. Speech-generating devices specifically gave access almost exclusively to English. Participants expressed a desire to increase their expressive language repertoire, and mentioned both limitations of communication technology as well as their own literacy skills as barriers to overcome in this regard.

Conclusion: In order for multilingual South African adults using AAC to express themselves in multiple languages, appropriate AAC systems and interventions as well as literacy learning opportunities need to be developed and provided.

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

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.