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Seeking information about assistive technology: Exploring current practices, challenges, and the need for smarter systems

Danemayer, Jamie; Holloway, Cathy; Cho, Youngjun; Berthouze, Nadia; Singh, Aneesha; Bhot, William; Dixon, Ollie; ... Shawe-Taylor, John; + view all (2023) Seeking information about assistive technology: Exploring current practices, challenges, and the need for smarter systems. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies , 177 , Article 103078. 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103078. Green open access

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Abstract

Ninety percent of the 1.2 billion people who need assistive technology (AT) do not have access. Information seeking practices directly impact the ability of AT producers, procurers, and providers (AT professionals) to match a user's needs with appropriate AT, yet the AT marketplace is interdisciplinary and fragmented, complicating information seeking. We explored common limitations experienced by AT professionals when searching information to develop solutions for a diversity of users with multi-faceted needs. Through Template Analysis of 22 expert interviews, we find current search engines do not yield the necessary information, or appropriately tailor search results, impacting individuals’ awareness of products and subsequently their availability and the overall effectiveness of AT provision. We present value-based design implications to improve functionality of future AT-information seeking platforms, through incorporating smarter systems to support decision-making and need-matching whilst ensuring ethical standards for disability fairness remain.

Type: Article
Title: Seeking information about assistive technology: Exploring current practices, challenges, and the need for smarter systems
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103078
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103078
Language: English
Additional information: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Information systems, World Wide Web, Web searching and information discovery
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10170631
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