The Disability Skills Exchange
What is the Disability Skills Exchange?
The Disability Skills Exchange (DSE) is a forum where members of the local disability community can meet human-centred technology researchers at Sussex University to exchange ideas about how technology can enhance the social, artistic and creative aspects of life for disabled people.
While the range of topics that might be discussed is diverse, they might include:
- Adapting computer games for disabled people
- Adapting email, online chat and photo messaging for the needs of severely disabled people
- Creating Video tools (e.g. video cameras and video editors) for severely disabled people
- Creating and managing online communities for disabled people
The DSE was created by members of the Human Centred Technology group to:
- Provide members of the local
disability communities with information and experiences about new
technologies that might be of use to them
- Share with members of the local disability community the results of any relevant academic research
- Involve members of the local
disability community in shaping research directions at Sussex
University for the design of technologies for disabled people.
Can I Join the Disability Skills Exchange?
Absolutely! Membership of the
Disability Skills Exchange is free and is open to anyone with
experiences of disability. We are particularly interested in
contributions from:
- Disabled people
- Parents, or partners, of disabled people
- Professionals who work with disabled people
- Anyone who is involved with charities, or community groups, that work with people with disabilities
If you would like to join, or have any questions, please contact us at: <email>
What are the Benefits of Joining the Disability Skills Exchange?
You will receive invitations to
events organised by the DSE. Participation in these events is entirely
voluntary and your level of participation is entirely up to you.
You will receive a regular newsletter
by email. This contains news about the research into and development of
new technologies of interest to disabled people. If you would like to
receive this newsletter, please contact us at: disabilityskills@gmail.com
You will be invited to half day
interactive workshops that will run once or twice a year for members of
the DSE. A typical workshop might include the following:
- A demonstration of some new
technologies by researchers at Sussex University, followed by hands on
experiences with these technologies.
- A discussion of some of the problems/issues faced by disabled people, such as social isolation, boredom, etc.
- A discussion about how technology might address some of these issues.
You will be able to network and share experiences with other people working in disability.
You will have the opportunity to get
involved in research carried out at Sussex; both as expert advisors and
testers of the resulting technologies. Through membership of the DSE,
you will be able to influence the research into disability carried out
by members of the HCT group, and make sure that it is relevant to the
concerns of disabled people.
Contact Us
Cian O’Connor
Research Fellow, Interact Lab
Email: disabilityskills@gmail.com
Tel: 07870 665160