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TDIT´26 – Technology, Disability and Inclusive Tourism: From Assistive Navigation to Accessible Destinations

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Moving autonomously through unfamiliar places remains one of the main barriers that people with disabilities face when visiting a destination. Campuses, museums, historic centres, airports and cultural venues share the same challenge: complex spaces whose information is rarely accessible to everyone. Digital technologies, from mobile applications and artificial intelligence to tangible interfaces and accessible maps, are opening new ways to reduce these barriers and support autonomy, orientation and participation.

This workshop brings together researchers, developers, designers and tourism stakeholders to discuss how technology can improve the quality of life and the experience of people with disabilities, with a special focus on accessible tourism. As a flagship case, it presents Alianza 4U, an inter-university project that developed, through a human-centred design process, a mobile application and an interactive physical model to guide blind users in Colombian university campuses, an approach transferable to tourism destinations and other complex environments. The session combines the project demonstration, paper presentations and a multi-perspective panel.

Chairs: Liliana González-Palacio (EAFIT-Medellín-Colombia), Rita Patricia Peña-Baena (Uninorte-Barranquilla-Colombia), Elixeneth Tovar (ICESI-Cali-Colombia)

 

This workshop seeks submissions that address the following topics (but not limited to):

• Accessible tourism and inclusive destination design

• Assistive technologies for people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities

• Accessible navigation, wayfinding and indoor positioning

• Accessible maps, geospatial technologies and tangible interfaces

• Artificial intelligence, IoT and smart environments for accessibility

• Digital accessibility of tourism information systems and platforms

• Human-centred design, co-design and participatory approaches with people with disabilities

• Usability and accessibility evaluation in real-world settings

• Smart and accessible campuses, cities and destinations

• Technology for quality of life in vulnerable populations

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