UniversalUsability.org

On June 2, 2006, the Workshop on Universal Usability will take place in conjunction with the Human-Computer Interaction Lab's 23rd Annual Symposium (at the University of Maryland).

Jonathan Lazar and Sarah Horton will lead the workshop. Description of the workshop:

Many governmental initiatives focus on providing universal access to technology for diverse user populations, but having access to technology doesn't help if the interfaces are hard to use. Universal usability is the study of making interfaces easy to use for all users, including young users, older users, economically disadvantaged users, and users with perceptual, motor, and cognitive impairments. Our goal for this workshop is to explore current trends in design and technology that help or hinder the development of universally usable interfaces. Specific topics that we hope to address include:

• Collaborative design: Designing user interfaces that can be adapted by the user
• Design methodology: Incorporating universal usability into the development process
• Tools: Software and guidelines for achieving universal usability
• Technologies: How technologies such as web applications and mobile devices affect universal usability
• Policies: Government policy related to universal usability

Each workshop participant will be expected to make a short 5-10 minute presentation.

One-page position papers were due May 15th.