MyUI · MyUI: Mainstreaming Accessibility through Synergistic User Modelling and Adaptability

MyUI will foster the mainstreaming of accessible and highly individualized ICT products – a major issue for e-Inclusion. The project addresses important barriers which include developers' lack of awareness and expertise, time and cost requirements of incorporating accessibility and missing validated approaches and infrastructures.The project's approach goes beyond the notion of Universal Design by addressing specific user needs through adaptive personalized interfaces. An ontology-based context management infrastructure will collect user and context information in real-time during use. Sharing the collected information across several personal applications will increase efficiency and validity. The user interface will self-adapt to the evolving individual user model, in order to fit the user's special needs and preferences. The MyUI adaptation engine will rely on empirically based design patterns for specified user and context characteristics.Providing support for developers is a key goal of the project. Accessibility guidelines, re-usable interface components and a virtual environment for illustration, training and monitoring will support the mainstreaming of accessibility in ICT products. An interface adaptation engine and simulation tools will help developers test, assess and refine their designs.MyUI technologies will be implemented in three selected 'use cases' to demonstrate their benefit and feasibility in industrial development contexts: interactive TV device, interactive digital physiotherapy service, and interactive socialisation service.End-users and developers will be involved in all stages of the project. Empirical research will determine the design of user models, design patterns, and adaptation mechanisms. Iterative development and research cycles will ensure that the MyUI artefacts will increase accessibility and that they can be adopted efficiently by the industry. Field tests will validate the project approach in realistic environments.