T-able: An Investigation of Habituating Moving Tables at Home.

This paper investigates the philosophical and designerly questions of how the concepts of familiarity, orientation, and habituation can be used to understand a self-moving (semi-autonomous robot) table at home. Tables are familiar habituated objects in domestic settings for people with various abilities. We explore the idea of a self-moving table through the lens of universal design. Phenomenology is applied to get a grip on ways of orienting and being oriented by such habituated familiar objects. Specifically, we investigate how the t-able is used as a telephone table, where the telephone is always charged and in a fixed place on the table. This is an attempt to make the telephone easier to use and relate to at home. The paper aims to inform future robots' design for the independently living elderly by designing robots mainly from natural materials, such as wood. We also discuss similarities and differences between the universal design of the built environment and ICT environments with this paper.

Feedback from Digital Systems Used in Higher Education: An Inquiry into Triggered Emotions - Two Universal Design Oriented Solutions for a Better User Experience.

We illustrate in this paper some of the negative emotions experienced by students when interacting with digital systems in learning situations, where there is a lack of feedback, or the interaction with digital systems is faulty. The emotions are classified here as feelings of: neglection, frustration, uncertainty, need for confirmation, and discomfort. We proposed thereafter two solutions. The first solution focuses on the design of digital feedback from a system which should arouse positive emotions. We discuss this in relation to universal design principle 5, tolerance for error. The second solution we propose is to provide feedback mechanisms for user feedback (user input). This may be considered when the first solution is not possible.

Search, Read and Write: An Inquiry into Web Accessibility for People with Dyslexia.

Universal design in context of digitalisation has become an integrated part of international conventions and national legislations. A goal is to make the Web accessible for people of different genders, ages, backgrounds, cultures and physical, sensory and cognitive abilities. Political demands for universally designed solutions have raised questions about how it is achieved in practice. Developers, designers and legislators have looked towards the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for answers. WCAG 2.0 has become the de facto standard for universal design on the Web. Some of the guidelines are directed at the general population, while others are targeted at more specific user groups, such as the visually impaired or hearing impaired. Issues related to cognitive impairments such as dyslexia receive less attention, although dyslexia is prevalent in at least 5-10% of the population. Navigation and search are two common ways of using the Web. However, while navigation has received a fair amount of attention, search systems are not explicitly included, although search has become an important part of people's daily routines. This paper discusses WCAG in the context of dyslexia for the Web in general and search user interfaces specifically. Although certain guidelines address topics that affect dyslexia, WCAG does not seem to fully accommodate users with dyslexia.