How do you design the healthiest environment, with the greatest economy, for all in society?
Inclusive digital design:
Since my topic for Design&Research/ my masterthesis is all about a redesign and relaunch of a web platform called digital university hub (duh), which should enhance Austria’s universities collaboration, my approach on this question will be, that I’d remove all digital barriers on the platform and thinking about implementing an ai, which will translate dense academic written text into easy English.
With this inclusive approach, I’d create a healthy environment, with the greatest economy for all in society while letting more people participate in the duh project. It would not only widen the target group by inviting people with any impairment regarding digital barriers, but it would also make the mass of information on the digital university hub easier to understand for everyone in some aspects. One doesn’t necessarily need to have a certain disability for having a more or less bad time while seeking specific content on the duh platform.
Another thought on inclusivity is that impaired people need to be involved in the design process. Their thoughts and feedback are important in order to design correctly and sustainably.
For a great economy, the digital university hub needs to be stable in financial aspects of course, so services would be a vision which could be provided via the platform. One service has been already established – it’s the DUH Lab. It is a conference where university stakeholders can come together, work on current topics and use the know-how gained to continue working in their fields. Several other small services are currently being developed, which the DUH and its employees will finance in the future.
Regarding inclusivity one service can be, that the duh provides software which will translate not only content on the duh into easy English, but also on other platforms. Another service that comes to mind is that the duh could offer software that checks whether other platforms – not just websites, but also apps – are accessible and if not, what to do and(!) how to do it (also codewise).
Economic inclusivity would be a narrower view of the segment. Establishing partnerships with not only universities but also companies to offer exclusive internships, job fairs and training programs is one idea. This collaboration opens up additional career opportunities for users and strengthens their economic inclusion.
The stakeholder map for that would look like this:
Main stakeholders: The Team of the digital university hub would be responsible for designing the relaunch of the platform, implement the process of the ai for translation as well as the project management works on financial stability and service development. The team: Project manager, Content-creator, Web designer, Graphic designer.
The Users: All current university employees, especially in the areas of administration, research, teaching and IT also including people with impairments – not only as users of the platform, but also as important stakeholders for evaluating the effectiveness of inclusivity measures.
Technology Experts and Developers:
- The ZID (Zentrale Informatik Dienst) of TU Graz, who offers the infrastructure, servers and technical know-how is an important part for maintaining the Website.
- The main web developer of the Platform Digital University hub, who’s expertise lays within Typo3 – the backend where the duh is set up.
- Seeking for Ai-Developers or a company, who’s familiar with develop and implement ai/GPT content to a web platform. Experts who offer training for the team on content creation should also be considered (if nessesary).
Universities in Austria: Cooperation partners whose commitment influences the direction of the platform. Their cooperation strengthens the future services of the duh.
Accessibility organizations: For example, the EAA – European Accessibility Act or WCAC – Web Accessibility Certificate. Stakeholders in this field who specialize in accessibility. Collaboration ensures that DUH’s inclusion initiatives are in line with industry standards and best practice.
- Inclusion experts: Three specific names are already collected. Specialized, experienced individuals at TU Graz who are committed to inclusive practices.
Service providers: Considering special services when they are evolved -> organizers, product owner and service developer are important key contributors for keeping services alive.
Find out where you could create the biggest impact.
As the duh’s web designer, I focus on user-centered design and even more so with a focus on accessibility. I think I can make the biggest impact by implementing an own GPT on the platform, because everyone benefits from simple language / easy English. However, for seamless AI integration for academic content translation and scalability, it is important to find a company or expert and define the framework conditions in terms of technology and budget.
