Universal Design and Assistive Technologies for Accessibility in Smart Cities
A special issue of Smart Cities (ISSN 2624-6511).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 24716
Special Issue Editor
Interests: assistive technology; WEB accessibility; virtual reality; serious games; human-computer interaction; colour science
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are organizing a Special Issue on “Universal Design and Assistive Technologies for Accessibility in Smart Cities”.
Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability, or disability. An environment (or any building, product, or service in that environment) should be designed to meet the needs of all people who wish to use it. This is not a special requirement for the benefit of only a minority of the population. It is a fundamental condition of good design. If an environment is accessible, usable, convenient, and pleasurable to use, everyone benefits (http://universaldesign.ie/What-is-Universal-Design/).
Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. Assistive technology can include mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, as well as hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies (https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-assistive-technology).
The goal for this Special Issue in the journal Smart Cities is to show the latest research, innovation, applications, and practice for helping the independent living of people with disabilities or elderly people, covering equal opportunity and easy-to-use everyday objects, as well as services in smart cities.
Considering the huge potential impact that universal design and assistive technologies have on people’s health, well-being, and participation in society, the focus of research that links universal design and/or assistive technologies to people’s opportunities for a healthy and active life is incomprehensively scare. Research is needed on the design and development of accessible products and services. This topic is crucially important if we look at the demographic exchange in developed countries—the number of elderly people is increasing, and the number of people with disabilities is increasing in developing countries.
Thus, we are inviting research on all aspects of universal design and assistive technologies; we provide some keywords below that suggest just a few of the many possibilities.
Dr. Cecilia Sik-Lanyi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Smart Cities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- universal design
- assistive technology
- accessible Web
- digital accessibility
- accessibility standardization
- usability
- equal opportunities
- smart cities’ intelligent solutions
- smart environments
- independent living
- IT for older people and people with disabilities
- sensors for navigation
- artificial intelligence
- sustainability
- social networks
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