The Cambridge Workshops on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT) is one of the few
gatherings where people interested in inclusive design across different fields including
designers computer scientists engineers architects ergonomists ethnographers policymakers
and user communities meet discuss and collaborate. CWUAAT has also become an international
workshop representing diverse cultures including Portugal Germany Trinidad and Tobago
Canada Australia China Norway USA Belgium UK and many more. The workshop has five main
themes based on barriers identified in the developing field of design for inclusion: I Breaking
Down Barriers between Disciplines II Breaking Down Barriers between Users Designers and
Developers III Removing Barriers to Usability Accessibility and Inclusive Design IV Breaking
Down Barriers between People with Impairments and Those without V Breaking Down Barriers
between Research and Policy-making In the context of developing demographic changes leading to
greater numbers of older people and people living with impairments the general field of
inclusive design research strives to relate the capabilities of the population to the design of
products services and spaces. CWUAAT has always had a successful multidisciplinary focus but
if genuine transdisciplinary fields are to evolve from this the final barriers to integrated
research must be identified and characterised. Only then will benefits be realised in an
inclusive society. Barriers do not arise from impairments themselves but instead are erected
by humans who often have not considered a greater variation in sensory cognitive and physical
user capabilities. Barriers are not only technical or architectural but they also exist
between different communities of professionals. Our continual goal with the CWUAAT workshop
series is to break down barriers in technical physical and architectural design as well as
barriers between different professional communities.
