Disability Interactions: Creating Inclusive Innovations

Disability interactions (DIX) is a new approach to combining cross-disciplinary methods and theories from Human Computer Interaction (HCI), disability studies, assistive technology, and social development to co-create new technologies, experiences, and ways of working with disabled people. DIX focuses on the interactions people have with their technologies and the interactions which result because of technology use. A central theme of the approach is to tackle complex issues where disability problems are part of a system that does not have a simple solution. Therefore, DIX pushes researchers and practitioners to take a challenge-based approach, which enables both applied and basic research to happen alongside one another. DIX complements other frameworks and approaches that have been developed within HCI research and beyond. Traditional accessibility approaches are likely to focus on specific aspects of technology design and use without considering how features of large-scale assistive technology systems might influence the experiences of people with disabilities. DIX aims to embrace complexity from the start, to better translate the work of accessibility and assistive technology research into the real world. DIX also has a stronger focus on user-centered and participatory approaches across the whole value chain of technology, ensuring we design with the full system of technology in mind (from conceptualization and development to large-scale distribution and access). DIX also helps to acknowledge that solutions and approaches are often non-binary and that technologies and interactions that deliver value to disabled people in one situation can become a hindrance in a different context. Therefore, it offers a more nuanced guide to designing within the disability space, which expands the more traditional problem-solving approaches to designing for accessibility. This book explores why such a novel approach is needed and gives case studies of applications highlighting how different areas of focus-from education to health to work to global development-can benefit from applying a DIX perspective. We conclude with some lessons learned and a look ahead to the next 60 years of DIX.

Cathy Holloway (she/her/hers) is a Professor of Interaction Design & Innovation at University College London's Interaction Centre, as well as a co-founder and the Academic Director of the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub). Cathy co-directs the World Health Organization's (WHO) only Collaborating Centre on Assistive Technology at UCL. She graduated from the Na tional University of Ireland, Galway in Industrial Engineering (design stream) before embarking on a brief career as an R&D Engineer with Medtronic. She left Ireland to pursue her career in assistive technology and disability at University College London (UCL). This began with a Ph.D. that explored the biomechanics of wheelchair propulsion. During her Ph.D., years she hung out in equal measures at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hos pital, the Accessibility Research Group, and Science and Technology Studies. During this time, she developed her interest in the intersectionality of technology, disability, and poverty--and ultimately power within societies. Cathy went on to run the UCL Pedestrian Accessibility Movement Envi ronment Laboratory and learned a lot about UCL, academia, port, and life from her mentor and boss Prof Nick Tyler CBE. In 2016, she transferred her academic post from Accessibility Engineer ing to UCLIC as she began the journey to start the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) with her co-founders and friends Victoria Austin and Iain McKinnon. UCLIC is the base from which Cathy has found her vision and purpose, and the GDI Hub journey has allowed Cathy to realize her childhood dream to work in all areas of the globe and with people who are marginalized. She feels grateful and privileged each day for the opportunities she is afforded in her roles at UCL. Cathy's research will continue to try and advance the possible with technology while searching for social justice. Currently, this is achieved though her formal roles with the World Health Organiza tion, in her teaching and research, and by mentoring and leading a wonderful team.

Giulia Barbareschi (she/her/hers) is a Research Fellow in Disability and Assistive Technology Innovation at the Keio School of Media Design in Yokohama and the Global Disability Innovation Hub in London. She received her Ph.D. in 2018 from University College London, a Specialist Diploma in Medical Device Science from the National University of Galway in 2014, and a B.Sc. in Physiotherapy from the University of Genoa in 2008. From 2018 to 2021 she was a research fellow at the UCL Interaction Centre. Her research interest centers on the design, development, and evaluation of new and existing technologies to empower people with disabilities living in different parts of the world. This has included work on exploring the use of mobile phones by people with disabilities, developing and evaluating assistive technologies for mobility such as wheelchairs and lower limbs prosthetics, understanding how orientation and mobility skills support navigation for individuals with visual impairments, and evaluating the use of accessible technologies for improving access to inclusive education. A recent focus has been on how assistive technology influences self and external perceptions of disability across different cultures. Throughout her career Giulia has collaborated with several academic institutions across the world, start-ups and private ventures, NGOs, DPOs, and UN agencies.