Assistive technologies for people with disabilities : Part III: Perspectives, needs and opportunities

This report focuses on assistive technologies (ATs) for people with disabilities covering perceptions and specific needs related to ATs, as well as complementary measures by the public sector. Three comprehensive empirical studies were carried out: a quantitative European-wide online survey addressed impaired people directly. In addition, two qualitative studies were performed with experts on ATs at European level. The research focus was on three types of disability: 1) blindness and visual impairment; 2) deafness and auditory impairment; 3) autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The main research findings are: 1) Perceptions and needs on ATs vary according to the type of disability. This variety of perceptions and needs on ATs affects not only concrete technological solutions and fields of applications but also specific measures for a more effective use of devices. Furthermore, the labelling of ATs as medical or mainstream device is still contested. This has consequences not only in terms of the perceived 'value' of a device but also in terms of regulative measures and accessibility to them. 2) Recently, on an international level, important legislative steps put forward ATs in general. However, the effective implementation of the goals politically agreed upon still needs to be improved. This concerns, from a technology development perspective, the goal of universal and user-driven design. Furthermore, in employment the inclusion of people with disabilities and the use of ATs should be improved. As for the field of education, there are specific training needs on ATs for people without disabilities, mainly in the areas of health related professions, public services, and web accessibility. 3) In general, our studies indicated that people with disabilities have an open and optimistic attitude towards new and emerging technologies. However, future research should focus not only on the technical development as such, but rather on a sound implementation, social embedding and evaluation of technological solutions which already exist.