UIST Keynote: Ludic Design For Accessibility
UIST'21: ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology
Abstract: Technology solutions for accessibility have long been created using a narrow utilitarian lens, especially in the Global South, due to multi-dimensional challenges and resource constraints: an emphasis on purely functional outcomes supported by sterile cost-benefit analysis that ignores the fact that people with disability are people first with their own aspirations for leisure and enjoyment in addition to skills and employment. We propose an alternate design methodology called the Ludic Design for Accessibility (LDA) that puts play and playfulness at the center of all assistive technology design and use. We briefly touch upon the challenges of accessibility faced by the huge population of people with vision impairments in India and present our ongoing work with children and teachers in schools for the blind in India, in association with a non-profit, Vision Empower Trust. Though LDA is universally applicable, we highlight the factors that make it especially relevant in the context of accessibility in the Global South.
Manohar presented his talk on "Ludic Design For Accessibility" at UIST conference 2021.
