Accessibility Moonshots

Accessibility efforts have traditionally concentrated on developing assistive technologies tailored to individual needs, often placing the burden on people with disabilities to seek specific solutions. However, truly inclusive societies require embedding accessibility into broader public spaces and systems. The Accessibility Moonshots Workshop at OzCHI aims to foster a paradigm shift from individually-focused assistive technology to inclusive design practices that prioritize universal accessibility by default. We introduce the concept of "Accessibility Moonshots," ambitious goals intended to inspire significant breakthroughs and systemic changes, integrating inclusive design principles into mainstream products, services and public spaces. Participants will collaboratively envision future scenarios through structured activities, discussions, and creative ideation, exploring current challenges, emerging opportunities, and key stakeholder involvement. This workshop seeks to initiate ongoing dialogue and collaborations within the community, driving tangible progress towards an accessible and inclusive world for all.

Key issues to be addressed include:

How can we design an accessible world, with and for people with disabilities?
How do we design for accessible and inclusive infrastructure in every aspect of everyday life?
How do we shift norms from accessible technology for individuals, to embedding access and inclusion into public spaces?
How can we co-evolve assistive technology and accessible public spaces?
How can we harness emerging technologies to embed access and inclusion in every aspect of everyday life?

Call for Participation

In this workshop, we want to start a broader conversation, about how accessibility researchers in the OzCHI community can shift the focus from tech for individuals, to a new paradigm of access and inclusion by default. In this workshop, we introduce the idea of 'Accessibility Moonshots', ambitious, high-impact goals intended to inspire groundbreaking advancements in accessibility research and practice. The core activity of the workshop is the "Tomorrow Party" session, where participants collectively imagine and articulate positive futures for accessible emerging technologies.

We invite researchers, practitioners, designers, policy makers, disability service providers, and people with lived experience of disability to join our half-day, interactive workshop.

Interested participants can express their interest by completing this following EOI Form by the 24th of November.

Participants can choose to (but are not required to) submit a 1-4 page position paper about any relevant topics. The position papers will be posted on workshop website but will not be included in the Conference proceedings. Please use the ACM master template which you can download here

At least one author of the accepted submissions must register for the conference and the workshop. Register for the conference here.

If you have any question, please email saminda.balasuriya@qut.edu.au

Workshop Agenda

This workshop will be a half day workshop on Saturday 29th November and run from 1pm to 4.30pm. The workshop structure will be as follows:

1.00pm: Welcome and introductions

1.30pm: Lightning talks

2.00pm: Afternoon tea

2.15pm: Group discussions

2.45pm: Tomorrow Party session

4.00pm: Discussion and Wrap-up

Organisers

Saminda Sundeepa Balasuriya - Queensland University of Technology
Jessica Korte - Queensland University of Technology
Laurianne Sitbon - Queensland University of Technology
Carsten Röcker - TH OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Jens Gerken - TU Dortmund University
Anja Grosse‑Coosmann - wertkreis Gütersloh GmbH
Eckard Bicker - Delta3

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