Ethical challenges in inclusive software development projects with people with cognitive disabilities

Abstract

The benefits of participatory approaches in software development are widely recognized when it comes to developing well-designed and well-usable systems. However, the inclusion of users with disabilities in research and development projects remains something rare in practice, with many ethical, technical, and social challenges. People with cognitive disabilities are at a particular disadvantage in their opportunities to participate in the digital transformation. Compared to other groups of people with disabilities, they have few technical tools at their disposal to improve the accessibility of digital resources. As a result, they often rely on the support of family members or caregivers. In order to develop appropriate technologies to support this ever-growing group of people, they need to be more involved in technical research and development. So far, there are very few methods and approaches to help address ethical and social challenges in inclusive software development projects. In the EU Horizon 2020 funded project Easy Reading, a software framework for automatic personalized simplification of existing websites was developed together with people with cognitive disabilities. This paper presents the methods developed in the project and solutions to the ethical challenges in the project. A concluding discussion evaluates the practical implications of the developed solutions for development projects with people with cognitive disabilities. Still existing limitations of the developed methods are pointed out and impulses for further research are given.

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