The Case for Integrating Needs and Preferences in the Internet of Things Andy Heath Axelrod Access For All Sheffield, United Kingdom andyheath@axelrod.plus.com Gill Whitney, Irena Kolar, Mark Springett Design for All Research Group Middlesex University London, United Kingdom G.Whitney@mdx.ac.uk , I.Kolar@mdx.ac.uk, M.Springett@mdx.ac.uk Abstract— This paper was written because the authors believe the Internet of Things has enormous potential to enrich the lives of all people, but particularly those people sometimes referred to as “disabled”, who are excluded from participating in normal life processes that present fewer barriers to others and by that exclusion experientially impoverished. Further, we believe that there are grounds for personalization or individualization to be the accessibility delivery mechanism of choice to meet the diverse needs of this non-homogenous group of people in diverse contexts and in fact, of all people. From demographics it is clear that if the accessibility of the Internet of Things is not approached effectively, then a problem will be created for people with disabilities and older people. The paper gives a direction forward driven both by results from practical research with real users and theoretical considerations of what approaches are available to apply to this problem. We believe that Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is a significant aspect of the Internet of Things. Keywords- Internet of Things, Accessibility, Standards I. INTRODUCTION A. The Problem to be Addressed This paper presents an argument for integrating accessibility in the Internet of Things (IoT) in a particular way. It describes and makes the case for an approach to integration and presents some of the requirements that need to be considered. Accessibility is a huge and very complex domain and it is essential to address it if the Internet of Things is not to impoverish our humanity by excluding many people from its numerous benefits. There is a need to incorporate accessibility in a way that supports its use by everyone and in all environments. We approach the argument first from demographics, and then consider common difficulties in using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices in several use cases that demonstrate the complexity of the field. Our central argument is that accessibility is so complex, from computational and human understanding perspectives, that an approach that makes it simpler for everyone is required. We go on to suggest what we believe should be the approach of choice in dealing with the complexity of modern technology in a way that works for all users. We present all of this in a context of evolving models of accessibility and social context. The Internet of Things is not yet well defined but is a developing field. In one view of and application of IoT, items and computers are labeled with an electronic identifier consisting of a unique number called an IP address. The attachment of the labels supports the development of networking infrastructures where devices can autonomously communicate with one another and share control and communication. The successful implementation of IoT will require:  An IP address which can be associated with every possible source object that needs one (usually).  Software applications that can communicate with and manage the data from an ever-growing number of the enabled devices.  Consideration of requirements for ensuring IoT devices are accessible to all persons needing to directly access them or who are impacted by systems they connect to. We develop this in detail later in the paper. The networking of devices has the potential to benefit people currently with requirements not well served by the design of mainstream systems and devices to date, especially if the network infrastructures or devices support the use of assistive or alternate technology. Examples might include a medicine cabinet that is continuously aware of the status of each medicine bottle stored inside the cabinet such as its name, contraindications and expiry date. It could communicate the need for replacements to the medical professional as well as to the drinks cabinet to warn of the need to avoid alcohol (if required). Another example is a fall detector linked to both the telephone system to call help, the cooker to switch off any item which the user can no longer control, and the central heating system to ensure the person is kept in a comfortable situation until they are rescued. Practical research carried out at Middlesex University as part of a European Project has indicated a number of potential problems that occur when users require special features. The accessibility features within current ICT systems are often well hidden, meaning that users requiring those features need greater technical skills than others to reach them. This is impractical and unacceptable and could result in the IoT devices becoming a greater problem. Many users have particular access requirements that are critical in that they are often unable to access some particular systems at all unless those systems are designed with 118 Copyright (c) IARIA, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61208-306-3 CENTRIC 2013 : The Sixth International Conference on Advances in Human-oriented and Personalized Mechanisms, Technologies, and Services