Aspire Create, University College London, London, UK.
Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.
Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2024 May;19(4):1434-1445. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2192246. Epub 2023 Apr 3.
To explore accessibility challenges encountered by smartphone users with cervical spinal cord injuries (C1-C8). To investigate the suitability of current technology and make recommendations to help future technology meet user needs.
The study uses a mixed-method approach combining an inductive thematic analysis of nine semi-structured interviews with a quantitative analysis of thirty-nine questionnaires.
The analysis generated four themes: ; ; ; . These themes highlighted how unresolved access issues and situational barriers limited independence and created unwanted privacy compromises for effective communication. There was a lack of information or support on available smartphone accessibility features and assistive technology (AT). Smartphone AT was regarded as overpriced, poorly designed and lacking the voices of people with disabilities.
The smartphone's potential to improve quality of life, participation, and well-being is limited by accessibility challenges hindering independent and private smartphone use. Future design work should focus on improving accessibility, investigating reasons for AT's poor quality and high cost, and removing barriers to end-user inclusion. To enhance user awareness of available technology, stakeholders should build and maintain an open platform to act as an information source for peer and professional support on assistive technology.
探索患有颈脊髓损伤（C1-C8）的智能手机用户在使用中遇到的可及性挑战。研究当前技术的适用性并提出建议，以帮助未来的技术满足用户需求。
本研究采用混合方法，对 9 个半结构化访谈进行归纳主题分析，并对 39 份问卷进行定量分析。
分析生成了四个主题： ; ; ; 。这些主题突出了未解决的接入问题和情境障碍如何限制独立性，并为有效沟通造成不必要的隐私妥协。关于可用智能手机可及性功能和辅助技术（AT）的信息或支持有限。智能手机 AT 被认为价格过高、设计不佳且缺乏残疾人士的声音。
可及性挑战阻碍了独立和私人使用智能手机，从而限制了智能手机提高生活质量、参与度和幸福感的潜力。未来的设计工作应重点关注提高可及性，调查辅助技术质量差和成本高的原因，并消除最终用户参与的障碍。为了增强用户对可用技术的意识，利益相关者应建立和维护一个开放的平台，作为辅助技术的同行和专业支持的信息来源。
