Category Archives: Blog

Dismantling perceptions of priority and the hierarchy of importance of AT?

by David Banes. It is not a new issue, but it is worth regularly revisiting. I recently sat in two meetings where one or more people suggested that when planning the provision of AT, we needed to focus on the most important items first. In their minds, these were very traditional AT, mobility aids, spectacles, […]


Accessible and assistive technology resources and supports for Ukraine and for Ukrainian refugees

The war in Ukraine has left many people without homes and without access to disability services and supports. It has also displaced millions of people, resulting in associated language and cultural barriers. Accessible and Assistive Technologies can potentially ease some of these barriers, from translation apps to Ukrainian language symbol sets for AAC users and […]


Equipping for their right to connect!

Active participation in daily life, today, needs a comprehensive understanding of digital tools that we use to make our lives easier. As a society that has largely transitioned to a digital space, it is important to take into account the needs and requirements of people with disabilities to ensure they are not excluded.   Contributing to […]


Why should you attend #ICCHP_AAATE_22? Insights from somebody who’s been there

ICCHP-AAATE, the Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility, is taking place 11-15 July 2022 in beautiful Lecco, Italy. It is the bi-annual gathering of experts in the field of Assistive Technology (AT), (e)Accessibility, Accessible ICT and Digital Accessibility, but also much more than that. Makoto Kobayashi, Prof. at the Tsukuba University of Technology (JP) shares […]


A European Innovation Partnership on Digital Participation?

During the recent EASPD conference The Future is Now: Person Centred Technology to empower people and disability services I launched the idea for the European Commission to facilitate the establishment of a European Innovation Partnership on the Digital Divide. European Innovation Partnerships (EIP’s) are more or less self-organising collaborative ecosystems that without much top-down coordination […]


Sharing 40 years of experience and some thoughts on where the AT sector is going

The pace of change has increased incredibly in the assistive technology sector, just as in all other parts of our society. In these rapidly moving times, experience is a foundation and provides valuable background. It was therefore our particular pleasure to win Björk Pálsdóttir for an interview. Björk has started out as occupational therapist in […]


Connecting to your audience from your research – The 5 x 5 x 500 approach

It is an open secret when writing reports for research or consultancy that the most crucial part is the executive summary. In any project, at some point, it will be agreed that most of the audience will only ever read the executive summary. Research reports are long, complex and time-consuming, and as a result, the […]


ENTELIS+ and the #RightToConnectNow Campaign

Digital skills are crucial to fully participate in today’s life – that was already true before the global pandemic hit and is even more true going forward. While at least in developing countries the accessibility and affordability of ICT devices and online services has markedly improved, we are still lagging behind in providing the necessary […]