Views of persons with disabilities on digital assistive technologies would they help them to become more independent?

Abstract

This survey forms part of the TRIPS project (https://trips-project.eu/). TRIPS stands for “TRansport Innovation for Persons with disabilities needs Satisfaction”. The project aims at making public transport more accessible to persons with disabilities, the elderly, and other persons who face barriers while using public transportation. The project aims to conduct research on the needs and attitudes towards digital mobility solutions, review the state-of-the-art on accessibility, mobility, and related digital and assistive technologies and policies, as well as devise an index to measure mobilityIn conclusion, respondents to this survey confirmed their willingness to use digital assistive technologies in their daily life. Most respondents, irrespective of the type of their impairments or disabilities, would welcome and frequently use wearables, AI alerts and robots. In other cases, persons with different impairments prioritized different solutions as they suited different access needs of theirs. These findings prove that in order to enable users with disabilities to own smart assistive technologies, it is crucial to reduce the digital divide and raise users with disabilities’ digital competence and confidence in using smart technologies. Only then, assistive technologies can have beneficial effects on facilitating social interactions and bringing about a sense of equality and inclusion. Moreover, universal design should be accelerated to facilitate the use of assistive technologies for persons with different disabilities.