AAATE Newsletter 2026#3

An important moment in the life of an association, the General Assembly 2026 will take place online on September 22, from 5.30 to 7pm CET. The official invitation including agenda will be sent later this summer. The board will present the activities as well as the financial report. Please save the date ! We need you there !

Sooner, we propose to meet online for an Aperitivo on Thursday, July 2nd, from 13.00 to 14.00 CET. Grab a salad or a sandwich and join us to discuss about the Research Aperitivos, the next AAATE workshop and the next AAATE Conference in Mechelen in Sept 2027.

Some of you are preparing their trip to Brno (Czech Republic) this summer, to take part to the ICCHP conference, from July 15 to 17. The preliminary programme have been published and is available on the conference website : https://icchp.org. I hope to see many of you there !

AGH University of Krakow is working hard on the organisation of the International Workshop “Innovative Assistive Technologies and Accessibility in Higher Education”, held in cooperation with AAATE. As you already read in the last newsletter it will take place on November 12-13, 2026. All information is available here : https://dostepnosc.agh.edu.pl/en/workshop. Updates and information about the workshop will be published regularly on the facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586277881863

And of course don’t forget the next AAATE conference in Mechelen, organised together with our colleagues from Thomas More university of Applied Sciences in Mechelen. See more info, and pictures, about the venue : https://aaate2027.eu/.

We are strengthening the cooperation with organisations of persons with disabilities. In the last newsletter, I mentioned our partnership with ENIL- European Network on Independent Living (https://enil.eu/). We are now also a member of the European Disability Forum. Pedro Encarnaçao is the contact person for AAATE. Below you’ll read more information from Pedro about AAATE participation in EDF, and especially the opportunity given to AAATE members to subscribe to EDF mailing lists.

In the EU funded UPGRADE project (AAATE partner) a first Living Lab session on accessible and inclusive gaming was held in Belgium organised by project partner and AAATE member Thomas More. More living labs will follow in Bologna, Athens, and Vienna. The project is well on track and during the 2027 conference the results will be presented. Read more : https://thomasmore.be/en/upgrade

GAATO transmitted us a WHO call for experts – Global Standards for Quality of Care for Older People – that we are pleased to share with you. We invite you to consider applying to this call. WHO is seeking two categories of individuals to contribute to a Technical Working Group:

  • Technical experts in relevant fields
  • Older people and carers who can bring lived experience perspectives

Important: All participants will serve in their individual capacity, not as representatives of organizations. The working language is English, and all application information is available on the call webpage. The planned duration is about 2 to 2.5 years. Be careful, the deadline comes soon : 22 June 2026 (23:59 UTC+2).

Best wishes to all of you and to your AT projects !

Dominique Archambault, AAATE President With the support of the AAATE team

https://aaate.net/about/board Contact the team : office@aaate.net

AAATE becomes an ordinary member of the European Disability Forum

AAATE has become an ordinary member of the European Disability Forum (EDF – https://www.edf-feph.org/), further strengthening its cooperation with organisations of persons with disabilities. This new membership, together with AAATE’s 2025 membership as an Associate Member Organization of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL – https://enil.eu/), formalises and builds on AAATE’s long-standing collaboration with DPOs and other organisations representing persons with disabilities. These connections support AAATE’s mission (https://aaate.net/about-aaate/missions/) to foster the role of Assistive Technology and inclusive design so that all people can equally enjoy their human rights, particularly by strengthening collaboration with DPOs in AT-related fields.

Welcoming AAATE’s membership, Alejandro Moledo, EDF Deputy Director and Head of Policy, stated: “EDF is very pleased to welcome the Association on the Advancement of Assistive Technologies in Europe as an ordinary member. Affordable and available assistive technology is crucial to ensure equal access for persons with disabilities. This membership will allow our organisations to work closer together in advocating for a harmonised EU legislation on Assistive Technologies in Europe.”

AAATE members are also invited to subscribe to the EDF Members Mailing, which is sent every Thursday at noon and includes news, policy updates, consultations, resources, and other information relevant to EDF members. You can subscribe through the EDF sign-up form: https://edf-feph.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=865a5bbea1086c57a41cc876d&id=d6b945625c

EDF also runs several committees and expert groups (https://www.edf-feph.org/committee-and-expert-groups/). AAATE may propose one or two people to participate in these e-mail-based expert groups, where members are invited to provide input on ongoing issues within EDF’s work programme or on unexpected issues requiring expert advice. Members interested in contributing to any of these groups are invited to contact Pedro Encarnação at pme@ucp.pt.

Pedro Encarnação, AAATE Past-President, is AAATE’s representative to EDF. Please do not hesitate to contact him with any questions, suggestions, or ideas regarding this enhanced partnership between AAATE and EDF.

Recently published in Technology and Disability

The Volume: 38, Number 2 of Technology and Disability is available since May 1st.

Research Articles

  • The modified clinical test of sensory integration and balance (mCTSIB) performed on the Wii balance board: A validity study, by Maria Eduarda Higino Schuhmacher, Mariana Alves de Oliveira, Raíssa Sthefanie Henrique Mattedi, Kariny Realino Ferreira, Maria de Cássia Gomes Souza Macedo, Michelle Almeida Barbosa and Alexandre Carvalho Barbosa
  • Evaluation of computer game therapy for children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, by Leila Abasali, Shokooh Kermanshahani and Hamid Reza Hamidi
  • The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS): Attitudes of parents and professionals in Serbia, by Mirjana Đorđević, Ivana Žilić, Nenad Glumbić and Branislav Brojčin
  • Barcode technology to help people with intellectual disability and blindness engage in functional occupational activity, by Giulio E. Lancioni, Gloria Alberti, Chiara Filippini, Nirbhay N. Singh, Mark F. O’Reilly and Jeff Sigafoos
  • English sign language corpus with real-time mobile recognition and NLP for phrase interpretation, by Sahar I. Ghanem
  • Mobile app for ASD detection in children from static facial features using hybrid Pakistani corpus, by Sadia Tariq, Syed Kamran Ali Razi, Fatima Shahzadi, Zainab Shahzadi, Muhammad Azeem, Amina Bibi and Zain ul-Abideen
  • Artificial neural network based color identification and detection to help color blind people, by Eka Nuryanto Budisusila, Jenny Putri Hapsari and Munaf Ismail
  • Analysis of the agreement and repeatability of upper limb MediaPipe based measurements using the Bland–Altman method, by Iturrieta Juan Carlos, Tettamanti Fernando, R. Yanadel Alejandro, Mut Vicente, López Natalia and Pérez Elisa

Upcoming events

2026

2027

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