The increasing popularity of mobile devices has encouraged to the development of a variety of different apps which can be used to support disabled and elderly people.  The use of apps on mobile devices has a number of advantages compared to more traditional assistive technologies, including reduction in costs (if the mobile device is already available), easy portability and lack of stigma associated with device use, since it ressembles existing commonly used devices.  However, apps are purely software solutions and in some application areas specialised hardware is also required.Topics covered include the following: 

• Travel apps
• Supporting social interaction
• Information apps
• Reminders and prompts
• Games and entertainment
• What makes a good app
• Platform independence and comptability issues
• Android, java and other apps
• Accessibility and usability issues
• Cultural issues 
• Design for all  

Deadline for submitting extended abstracts: 1 FebruaryBrief BioMarion Hersh PhD is a senior lecturer (associate professor) in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Glasgow. Her main research interests are in the area of assistive technology, including inclusive learning technologies and pedagogies and mobile apps for disabled and elderly people, with a secondary interest in ethics and social responsibility issues in science and engineering. Particular topics include inclusive approaches to the design of learning technologies for disabled and non-disabled people, mobility issues and assistive travel technology for blind people, communication devices for deafblind people, apps and other technologies for autistic adults, assistive technology to support leisure activities for blind people and the user-centred design of assistive technology.She is co-editor and author of a book series on assistive technology, with two volumes on assistive technology for people with hearing impairments and visual impairments published to date by Springer Verlag. She recent completed a Research Fellowship awarded by the Leverhulme Trust for research on Mobility for Blind People: Current Strategies and Solutions. Dr Hersh has organised and chaired an EC funded conference series on assistive technology for people with sensory impairments, co-organised workshops on advanced learning technologies for disabled and non-disabled people at three IEEE International Conferences on Advanced Learning Technologies and organised a special session on ICT learning technologies for disabled people at the recent AAATE conference. She is one of a very small number of researchers investigating the accessibility and usability for disabled people of educational games and gaming environments.Paper SubmissionYou should submit an extended abstract (2 to 4 pages including images, tables and references) and may want to include the following topics: the R & D or application idea; the state of the art in this area; the methodology used, the R & D work and results; the impact or contributions to the field; and discussion and conclusions and further work. Papers should be submitted online and indicate that they are for the SSTS on Mobile Apps for Elderly and Disabled People. Please could you email me a copy of the extended abstract as well. Do contact Marion Hersh if you have any questions. 

Chair

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  Marion Hersh, University of Glasgow