From ‘one size fits all’ to design for social inclusion
28 November 2024
At least 87 million Europeans – almost one in five people - are thought to have disabilities. Here in the Netherlands, a quarter of the Dutch population experiences challenges in everyday life because of long-term disabilities, including visual, hearing, cognitive and social disabilities.
From deaf people without access to sign language interpreters during medical appointments to visually impaired people unable to access the full richness of museum or library collections, even though disabilities are relatively common, those affected regularly encounter problems when trying to access or share information. Ultimately, this can lead to social inequality and exclusion.
Ahead of the introduction of the European Union’s Accessibility Act in June 2025, a new and unique research project aims to change this.
TACIT: access unimpaired
Led by TU Delft, TACIT involves researchers from six academic institutions and stakeholders from a rich range of public and private organisations with a special interest in accessibility. Researchers will develop new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, which makes digital services more accessible to people with disabilities. For the first time, this project brings together the Netherlands’ experts in Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
UvA participation
From the University of Amsterdam, five people from three groups are involved: Prof. Floris Roelofsen (Institute for Logic, Language and Computation - ILLC), Prof. Judith Good and Dr Hamed S. Alavi (Informatics Institute - IvI), and Prof. Natali Helberger and Prof. Claes de Vreese (Law and Digital Technology).
Good will coordinate and oversee the research activities across all accessibility cases. Together with Alavi, she will also play a role in the development and evaluation of innovative co-design methodologies tailored to the target user groups in each case.
Helberger and De Vreese will focus on the legal implications of the EU Accessibility Act, ensuring that the products and services co-developed during the project comply with regulatory requirements. Meanwhile, Roelofsen will contribute expertise in designing and developing technologies for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In addition to her coordinating role, Good will act as Impact Officer, identifying opportunities for the TACIT project to shape policy and regulatory frameworks related to accessibility and inclusive technologies.
Designed by and for the user
Moving away from the traditional practice of well-meaning, able-bodied researchers creating solutions for people with disabilities, the TACIT research project will pioneer inclusive co-design methodologies. The project includes a number of researchers with lived experience of disabilities. By working with user groups from organizations, including Koninklijke Auris Groep, Nederlands Gebarencentrum, Stichting Accessibility, and Berengroep, the accessibility gap can be better understood and ultimately reduced.