ICT and persons with disabilities - The solution or the problem?

In order to lead full and productive lives, persons with disabilities need to have the same access to information and communication systems as the rest of the population. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) are occurring quickly, and the capability of technologies to meet the needs of persons with disabilities is growing daily. Future developments in assistive technologies (AT) and the successful application of these technologies to meet the needs of people who have disabilities are dependent on exploitation of these ICT advances. AT also involves the development of specialized interfaces such as the brain computer interface (130), adaptive interfaces that accommodate for changes in the user's physical skills, cognitive interfaces that allow understanding of the human technology interface by individuals with intellectual disabilities and systems that accommodate for user needs based on environmental sensing (e.g., GPS interfaces) and downloading of profiles to meet specific user needs. Universal Design (or design for all) calls for the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. In the physical world this often means ramps, curb cuts and other adaptations to the built environment to accommodate individuals who have disabilities. In the ICT world the barriers to access are technological, and the goal for ICT universal design is to have an environment with enough embedded intelligence to be easily adaptable to the varying cognitive, physical and sensory skills of a wide range of individual's in order to meet their productivity, leisure and self care needs. If ICT advances are not adaptable enough to be accessible to persons with disabilities it will further increase the disparity between those individuals and the rest of the population leading to further isolation and economic disadvantage. On the other hand, availability of these technologies in a transparent way will contribute to full inclusion of individuals who have disabilities in the mainstream of society.