Inclusive Designing: Joining Usability, Accessibility, and Inclusion

‘Inclusive Designing’ presents the proceedings of the seventh Cambridge Workshop on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT '14). It represents a unique multi-disciplinary workshop for the Inclusive Design Research community where designers, computer scientists, engineers, architects, ergonomists, policymakers and user communities can exchange ideas. The research presented at CWUAAT '14 develops methods, technologies, tools and guidance that support product designers and architects to design for the widest possible population for a given range of capabilities, within a contemporary social and economic context. In the context of developing demographic changes leading to greater numbers of older people and people with disabilities, the general field of Inclusive Design Research strives to relate the capabilities of the population to the design of products. Inclusive populations of older people contain a greater variation in sensory, cognitive and physical user capabilities. These variations may be co-occurring and rapidly changing leading to a demanding design environment. Recent research developments have addressed these issues in the context of: governance and policy; daily living activities; the workplace; the built environment, Interactive Digital TV and Mobile communications. Increasingly, a need has been identified for a multidisciplinary approach that reconciles the diverse and sometimes conflicting demands of Design for Ageing and Impairment, Usability and Accessibility and Universal Access. CWUAAT provides a platform for such a need. This book is intended for researchers, postgraduates, design practitioners, clinical practitioners, and design teachers.