Improving quality of life through the application of assistive technology

There is evidence that people with disabilities experience challenges authenticating themselves or communicating their accessibility requirements through traditional methods, such as Personal Identification Number codes or textual passwords. In this chapter, three assistive technology research case studies will be discussed that aim to address the challenges that people with disabilities encounter in the education, financial and healthcare sectors. Authentibility will enable authentication and accessibility requirements to be communicated to organisations. HealthAbility will allow patients to inform hospitals in advance of their accessibility requirements and EduAbility will provide an assistive technology recommendation system and training package for teachers, support staff, parents and carers. Each case study is described in detail and the associated concept demonstrators are presented. The usability evaluations conducted in the case studies are discussed, as well as the lessons learnt. Finally, a future agenda for improving the quality of life for people with disabilities is outlined.