Designing Accessible Technology

Rapid and unprecedented population ageing poses a serious social and economic challenge across the developed world. Shifts in dependency ratios point to escalating welfare and pensions costs which require radical and imaginative responses from Government and industry. Key to this is a healthy population able and willing to work longer before retirement and who can be independent for as long as possible afterwards as well as bringing disabled people into mainstream life and employment.

This book was stimulated by the 3rd CWUAAT workshop (the CWUAAT workshops have a general focus on product and solution development). It was held in Cambridge, UK in April 2006. Contributions from leading researchers focused on:

- design issues for a more inclusive world;

- enabling computer access and the development of new technologies;

- assistive technology and rehabilitation robotics; and,

- understanding users and involving them in design.

This proceedings of the 3^rd CWUAAT conference/workshop is edited by three of the editors who have worked on the previous proceedings. The proceedings from the 1^st and 2^nd CWUAATs were published with Springer under the titles "Universal Access and Assistive Technology" and "Designing a More Inclusive World". This volume will represent developments in the field from the past 4 years.