C. Stephanidis and M. Antona (Eds.): UAHCI/HCII 2013, Part III, LNCS 8011, pp. 626–635, 2013.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Mobile Technology and E-Inclusion
John Isaacs
1,*
, Santiago Martinez
2
, Ken Scott-Brown
2
, Allan Milne
1
,
Aled Evans
1
, and Daniel Gilmour
3
1
School of Engineering, Computing & Applied Mathematics,
University of Abertay Dundee, UK
2
School of Social & Health Sciences, University of Abertay Dundee, UK
3
School of Contemporary Sciences, University of Abertay Dundee, UK
{j.isaacs,a.milne}@abertay.ac.uk,
{s.martinez,k.scott-brown}@abertay.ac.uk,
d.gilmour@abertay.ac.uk
Abstract. This paper will describe work funded by the European Union (Inte-
reg NSR) iAge project which attempts to address the issues surrounding acces-
sibility to mobile devices and services. The project takes the approach of
combining three approaches directed at allowing greater inclusion in mobile
technologies for our increasingly aging population. Focus groups sessions are
used to ascertain the real problems the older generation has with mobile devic-
es. An iterative design process is then used to create assistive applications
which not only assist the user but give them a purpose to interact with the tech-
nology. Workshops are then used to provide developers and service providers
with an interactive experience of how the elderly feel when using mobile tech-
nology. Finally the paper describes how the combination of these approaches
will create a transnational framework of best practice for future developers.
Keywords: E-inclusion, Mobile HCI, Assistied Living.
1 Introduction
There is a persistent belief within the technology industry that devoting time and ef-
fort to making products more accessible is impractical as it increases development
time and cost for little or no tangible reward [1]. Designers and developers tend to
build applications, whether consciously or not, with themselves in mind as the typical
target user [2]. This results in any potential accessibility issues only being identified
after the development process and any measures to address the accessibility being
retrofitted to the original design.
The diverse literature on human aging and disability speaks directly to the core
problem of accessible design. The combination of sensory and cognitive changes,
together with loss of social and economic status apparent in both groups can work
against the adoption and uptake of new technologies. This traditional approach is also
based on the assumption that the physical and cognitive characteristics of users will
*
Corresponding author.