Activity profile: Norwegian Computing Centre, eInclusion Group

Universal design, e-inclusion and e-accessibility denote the need for ICT products and services to be accessible and usable by as many users as possible. The European Commission supports this strategy and encourages research within e-inclusion.

The e-Inclusion group at the Norwegian Computing Centre (NCC) has participated in a number of national and international projects related to e-inclusion. We study barriers and opportunities in relation to ICT for different user groups, e.g. persons with disabilities, the elderly, inexperienced ICT users and others. Also, based on insights about the needs for e-inclusive solutions, our group also develops, implement and evaluate software prototypes. We also conduct research in broader usability areas.

Users seldom customize their ICT services or applications. Those who would gain most from customization are usually not able to do so without assistance. One of our research challenges is to develop user interfaces that are adapted to meet the needs and preferences of the users.

Our group is made up of highly skilled researchers with backgrounds from areas such as computer science, education, health and assistive technology We build on experience and knowledge from different domains, such as universal design of ICT, HCI, e-learning, e-health others. We cooperate closely with the Multimedia and Security groups at NCC.

Please, see a brief presentation (PDF) concerning the research conducted in our group: http://www.nr.no/files/dart/einclusion/e-Inclusion@NR-200909.pdf

As part of our services, we evaluate the accessibility and usability of ICT solutions. The evaluations include technical testing and user testing, as well as expert assessment and use of assistive technologies. Please, see our flyer (PDF) with the detailed offering.

You can find reference projects on the projects page.