I attended the AAATE conference in San Sebastian as a Nokia speaker a little more than a week ago. AAATE stands for Association for Advancement of Assistive Technologies, and the conference was my first visit to any assistive technology conference.

It was a real eye-opener. Did you ever think how many technologies and innovations are developed to help people with various impairement and challenges - and not deployed further. All people would benefit tremendously if all technology companies implemented Design for All approach.

 

I learned some interesting facts, for example by 2020 there will be twice as many people out of workforce than there are children (although I think this was in the US only and not global), in EU there are 34 million people with disabilities and 44.6 million people report either a long standing health problem or disability.

 

By accomodating the needs for people with vision, hearing, mobility or cognitive impairment, equipment manufacturers could increase their customer base without compromising needs of existing customers. Older people do not necessarily want gadget that are designed specifically for old people - I mean people don't typically want their phone or other equipment to scream out that "I have a disability". People will simply want devices that they can use regardless of hard of hearing or seeing problems. The same R&D results can be utilized by everyone - hearing is compromised by anyone who has ever walked on the streets of Manhattan, or sitting in a driving car with windows down. Equally, bright contrast and good resolution on your phone screen will help if you're trying to browse the web in bright sunlight, or wearing dark glasses.

I got a fantastic idea when listening to Rory Cooper's presentation on wheel chairs and creating maps on different surface and pavement conditions. Why don't wheel chair users, roller skaters, roller boarders and roller skiiers all combine their efforts and create a worldwide map on best ramps, asphalt and other rolling conditions. Feel free to steal the idea.

AAATE proceeding paper
AAATE presentation