An interdisciplinary approach to the design, development and deployment of person-centered accessible technologies

Over the last few years, significant strides have been made toward enhancing the naturalness and acceptance of multimedia systems through the principles of Human-Centered Multimedia Computing (HCMC), a field of computational science where user needs, expectations, adoption and adaptation preferences guide interface and system design. While progress has greatly benefited the broader “able” population, those with disabilities are largely ignored, and must often force-fit available solutions or wait for add-on features that only partially solve usability issues. Given the diversity of disabilities, a person-centered rather than human-centered approach is needed. Previously, we proposed enriching the design philosophy of HCMC by considering perspectives from disabilities. More recently, we have proposed Person-Centered Multimedia Computing (PCMC) to emphasize individual user needs and co-adaptive systems. In this paper, we present an interdisciplinary approach to realizing person-centered accessible technologies. The basis of the approach is three complementary research thrusts: human-centered design, socio-personal dynamics, and socio-technological practices. These research thrusts are interconnected through three perspectives of disability research: technology, adaptation and policy. The results of several case studies will be presented to highlight how this approach has aided the development of person-centered accessible technologies from early conceptualization to commercialization.