KOGS5504 Inclusive and Accessible Design of ICT: Foundational Introduction to Creating Technology for Humans with Diverse Sensory, Cognitive and Physical Abilities (JSS29) (3 cr)

Content

The field of inclusive and accessible design is growing from a niche specialty to one with increased focus and demand across multiple industries. Governments (e.g., EU and US) have adopted accessibility regulations encouraging technology developers to create products that conform to accessibility standards, such as the European Union’s EN 301 549. The technology industry has come to recognize that ignoring accessibility can limit markets and exclude people from using their products or services. This has led companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM, and Apple to embed inclusive and accessible design practices within their organizations to make their technology work for people with sensory, cognitive, or physical impairments, a population (and market) that comprises more than 1 billion people globally. It is also recognized that inclusive design can benefit a broader range of people, with and without disabilities. To build inclusive and accessible technologies requires understanding of how people sense and perceive information, how information design (and complexity) impacts the ability to understand and interact with information, and how physical (or virtual) interface design impacts a user’s ability to operate it.

This class will address foundational knowledge in inclusive and accessible design, with a focus on understanding human sensory, cognitive, and physical abilities and impairments and how they influence our interaction with technology The course will also introduce students to international technical standards (such as those of W3C) and present design strategies for implementing inclusive and accessible design through a series of hands-on demonstrations of technologies including multimodal interfaces, cloud-based cognitive services, and haptics.

Students who successfully complete the course will be able to understand the importance of inclusive and accessible design, human sensory/cognitive/physical abilities and limitations, accessibility standards and legislation that can guide design of new applications or systems, and how they can begin to apply this knowledge in their work and research. Knowledge of these fundamentals will increase the successful creation inclusive and accessible products. Given the introductory nature of this course, motivated students can use successful completion as a basis for further study or research in the field of inclusive design and accessibility.

Completion methods

Lectures, readings, presentation, and written report. Obligatory attendance at all lectures. Active participation is required. In addition, participants will present a problem in Inclusive Design and a proposed, evidence-based solution in a short oral presentation prepared beforehand. To receive course credit (3 ECTS) the student must also return a written project report.