Cognitive Accessibility of Indoor Navigation Apps.

Advances in smartphone technology have made it possible to develop mobile apps that assist people with cognitive or learning disabilities in navigating indoor spaces more easily and independently. This paper reviews the state of the art in smartphone-based indoor navigation for this population and describes a usability trial that was conducted with four individuals in a German city hall. The trial was based on simulated tasks that required the use of the indoor navigation app XXX, during which data about different use cases were gathered. A guided interview was conducted to gather further feedback about the accessibility and the perceived usefulness of the app. The paper highlights the potential of smartphone-based indoor navigation apps for enhancing the independence and quality of life of individuals with cognitive or learning disabilities. The usability trial provided insights into the effectiveness and usability of these apps in real-world settings.

Using Personas to Raise Acceptance of Digital Tools in Social Organizations - Introducing the Easy Reading Framework.

The Easy Reading Framework is a digital tool that can be used to make existing web pages accessible to the individual needs of a wide range of people. The core of this Framework is a toolbar, which currently includes 13 different functions. The potential for multiple applications of the Easy Reading Framework is being investigated and promoted in the recent Easy Reading follow-up project "EVE4all". In this project, Personas play an important role in the first project phase to raise end-user acceptance. Personas represent specific target groups and share the same characteristics, traits, social environments, and circumstances as the intended target group. Working with this method enables developers and project participants to identify with the users of their products and their lifeworld. Our project shows that this method can be used to reflect on and use the introduction of any technology in institutions in a theoretically well-founded way. Thus, this paper aims to illustrate how this method can be successfully transferred into the pedagogical context and show how this method's usage can contribute increasing user acceptance.

Involving, Empowering, and Training End Users with Disabilities to Fully Participate in the Web Accessibility Directive Objectives First Results from the UPowerWAD Project.

In this paper, we present the first results from the UPowerWAD Project - a project which aims to raise awareness and to empower and train people with disabilities to take active participation in the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive (WAD). We give an overview of the results on how to capture and categorize feedback from users in the context of web accessibility and present best practices for structuring and reporting web accessibility issues. The results will be discussed focusing on the relevance and implications for further steps in the project.

Participation and Autonomy for Users with ABI Through Easy Social Media Access.

The Mediata app is a mobile application providing easy access to internet and social media for persons with acquired brain injury. This paper presents design, working hypotheses and expected results of a participative user experience study to evaluate the impact of the Mediata application on participation and autonomy of users with acquired brain injury.