User Centred Design and User Involvement are recognised as important success factors for implementing a high level of Usability and User Experience (UX) Design. This is reflected and respected e.g. in the work of W3C/WAI on guidelines, standards, techniques and tools for web accessibility. But methods, techniques and tools for user for allowing end users with disabilities to fully participate in R&D teams as co-researchers and experts are still missing.User involvement in practice is still much restricted to initial user requirements studies and final evaluation using traditional tool as e.g. questionnaires, interviews and observation. R&D thereby still tends to be more "about" then "with" people with disabilities.Recent developments and studies provide evidence on the the benefits and increased quality of R&D results when certain groups of people with disabilities are involved as co-researchers of owners of R&D projects. this holds in particular true when Assistive Technologies or Accessibility issues are at focus.This also concerns people with cognitive disabilities, where only recently first approaches in inclusive, participatory and action based R&D and design have started. Increased cognitive accessibility is beneficial for many more users and supports general usability. Therefore, research in inclusive participatory R&D and design for all groups of people with disabilities are needed providing adapted or new processes, methods techniques and tools. This session calls for

• research and development in an inclusive and participatory R&D and design process, in particular focussing on
• new and adapted methods, techniques and tools for inclusive and participatory R&D and design
• networking and discussing legal and ethical aspects of including more vulnerable groups in R&D and design
• reports on experience from projects and R&D and design practice
• opinions, ideas, political and position papers
• new visions and horizons

This STSs intends to provide and open and creative platform for new and innovative ideas and concepts both at the level of scientific research but also at the level of innovative conceptual and visionary ideation.This session is organised in the frame of the Easy Reading project, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.780529.  

Chairs

• 
  Susanne Dirks, TU Dortmund
• 
  Christian Bühler, TU Dortmund, FTB Vollmarstein
• 
  Peter Heumader, Institute Integriert Stuideren, Johannes Kepler University Linz
• 
  Klaus Miesenberger, Johannes Kepler University Linz