ICT, disability and employment, 2008

The project will focus on the following main issues : 1 ) What public policy measures are designed to make use of ICT -based tools that can promote the employment of disabled people in Norway , the UK, Netherlands and Denmark ? 2 ) How is diffusion organized in the comparison countries? 3) What specific ICT -tools/aids are mostly used by people with visual, hearing or restricted movement in the comparison countries? To what extent does the use of these technologies promote workplace integration of these groups ? 4) The extent to which the users( ie, employers and employees ) needs translates to actual production of ICT products and how one can possibly ensure that user needs increasingly are communicated to the innovation community ?

The issues are examined by combining different methodological approaches : a) a comparative analysis of the systems of diffusion agents in the Netherlands , England , Denmark, partially USA and Norway , based partly on interviews with users , innovators , experts, representatives of authorities and user organizations , b) analysis of the literature with emphasis on models and experiences with the organization of diffusion , c ) case studies of how some key technologies are being introduced, in order to study how the technology is being used in workplaces that have employees with disabilities , d ) provide the basis for developing evaluation- and assessment tools for the evaluation of technology e ) the establishment of a forum for ICT and universal accessibility in the workplace . The project builds on and complements the NFR project: " Disability , work and the welfare state " performed by Fafo and AFI - including utilizing informants , data and analysis from this project. We will also collaborate with NTNU.