Scoping report on law and policy on deafblindness, disability and new technologies : working paper; Germany

Abstract

„Constantly progressing developments in the field of new technology hold considerable promise for better chances of inclusion for disabled people. Nevertheless, disabled people’s access to and control of new technologies is not yet well established. Particularly for people with complex multiple impairments (e.g. deafblindness), the question arises as to how new technologies can be best used to enable improved participation. The international and interdisciplinary SUITCEYES project (Smart, User-friendly, Interactive, Tactual, Cognition-Enhancer that Yields Extended Sensosphere) aims to create new, smart haptic communication and orientation possibilities for people with deafblindness. Besides the development of an intelligent haptic prototype for deafblind people, the project aims to develop an overview of disability law and policy on new technologies within different countries in the EU. Therefore, national reports on the developments in Germany, Sweden, Greece, the Netherlands and UK were prepared. In this report, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) presents a scoping review of law and policy in Germany with a view to providing information about how technology is being used and whether deployment supports accessibility and inclusion for disabled people. The report aims to inform about the impact of developments in new technologies on accessibility, wider risks and opportunities for disabled people in Germany, to support improved structures and policies within a human rights framework. The report is based on desk research into academic, policy and grey literature. Moreover, three interviews with experts from the area of research were conducted in order to get answers to open questions that could not be answered through literature.“ (excerpt; BIBB-Doku)