Publications
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Building Common Ground from the Ground Up: Repair Infrastructure for Human–Agent Collaboration in African Languages
Gifty Ayoka, Vicki Austin, Catherine Holloway, Dr Giulia Barbareschi, Katrin Angerbauer, Richard CaveApril 13, 2026Academic Research PublicationsTheories of distributed teamwork portraying LLMs as remote collaborators are frequently constructed around an unexamined assumption: that collaborators share a natural language. For speakers of the vast majority of the world’s approximately 7,000 languages, this assumption does not hold—the LLM agents are not merely remote but functionally non-communicative as they do not share the languages of the users they supposedly collaborate with. Drawing on three years of work through the Centre for Digital Language Inclusion (CDLI), which has scaled community-driven speech recognition from one to thirteen African languages, we argue that linguistic asymmetry is the defining yet overlooked barrier to human–agent collaboration for the majority world.
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Beyond the Manual: Mapping Peer-Generated Content about Wheelchair Care and Adaptation on YouTube
Wen Mo, Catherine Holloway, Lan Xiao, Aneesha SinghApril 13, 2026GlobalAcademic Research PublicationsWheelchair users often face significant barriers to maintaining and adapting their chairs, from resource constraints to limited access to professional services. In response, many turn to social media platforms such as YouTube to share and learn practical knowledge. However, little is known about how wheelchair users document and exchange repair, maintenance, and customization practices online. To address this gap, we analyzed 290 YouTube videos alongside 800 sampled comments using thematic coding and statistical analysis.
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Brazil Case Study Report
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 31, 2026BrazilAcademic Research PublicationsThis study investigated the feasibility and impact of providing smartphones and digital skills training to people with visual and hearing impairments in Brazil, a country where over 84% of the population uses the internet, but a significant digital divide persists for those with disabilities.
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India Case study report
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 31, 2026IndiaAcademic Research PublicationsThis summary presents findings from a 12-month research study conducted by the Centre for Accessibility in the Global South (CAGS) at IIIT Bangalore, in partnership with the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) at University College London. The study examined the potential of Android smartphones to function as assistive technology (AT) for people with visual and hearing impairments in India.
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2026 Advance awardees
Royal Academy of EngineeringMarch 31, 2026GlobalCase Studies and ReportsAdvance 2026 will work towards the theme of 'Accessibility, Assistive and Inclusive Technologies’ during the 2025 to 2026 period. Advance 2026 is a collaboration between the Royal Academy of Engineering and Global Disability Innovation Hub, part of the AT2030 programme, which is funded by UK International Development.
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Kenya Case study report
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 31, 2026KenyaCase Studies and ReportsMobile phones are increasingly important to our lives. They can connect people to learning and employment opportunities and support social and cultural interactions. Mobile phones have also been identified as assistive technology in prior AT2030 research. However, mobile phones and the Internet are often excluded from Government or Insurance-based assistive technology provision schemes in low- and middle-income countries. There is insufficient evidence to explain how mobile phones function as assistive technologies and what support is needed for people to learn the full suite of accessibility features on mobile devices.
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AT2030: Para Sport Against Stigma Learning from Systems, Storytelling and Assistive Technology
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 31, 2026Malawi, United KingdomCase Studies and ReportsThe AT2030 Para Sport Against Stigma Programme is a multi-phase research and practice initiative funded by UK International Development and led by Loughborough University in partnership with organisations across Southern Africa. It explored how Para Sport, media, storytelling, and assistive technology could work together to challenge disability stigma and evolved through cycles of reflection and learning shifting from an early focus on broadcast access and Paralympic visibility toward a deeper understanding of how stigma is structurally reproduced through systems, and what it actually takes to enable participation.
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Global Insights Summary report
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 31, 2026GlobalAcademic Research PublicationsSmartphones now contain screen readers, magnification tools, live captions, real-time transcription, and navigation features that can perform many of the functions of traditional assistive products. Across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), people with disabilities are using these built-in features as their primary assistive technology, often because specialist AT is unavailable, unaffordable, or absent.
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Pathways to Funding For Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in Low- and-Middle-Income Countries
Global Disability Innovation Hub, Rebecca Joskow, Anna Landre, Pollyanna WardropMarch 31, 2026GlobalAcademic Research PublicationsOrganisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) play vital roles as policy and governance experts, strategic partners, advocates, and community implementers of work to progress equity and inclusion of people with disabilities, including accelerating access to assistive technology. Despite their integral role in disability rights advocacy, many OPDs operate with minimal and insecure funding, undermining their ability to sustain operations, be involved in, and have influence over the shaping of strategies, policies, and interventions.
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Mobile as Assistive technology Kenya Report Summary
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 30, 2026KenyaCase Studies and ReportsThis document presents the summary of findings from research investigating the impact of Mobile as Assistive Technology conducted in Kenya between 2024 and 2025. The project explored whether smartphones can serve as assistive technology for people who are Blind or Partially Sighted (BPS) and people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH). The research was funded by the UK Department for International Development, Google, and ATScale – Global Partnership for Assistive Technology. The research was led by Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) and University College London in collaboration with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa, Senses Hub, and Safaricom.
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Mobile as Assistive Technology Brazil Project Report Summary
Global Disability Innovation HubMarch 27, 2026BrazilAcademic Research PublicationsThis document presents the summary of findings from research investigating the impact of Mobile as Assistive Technology conducted in Brazil between 2024 and 2025. The project explored whether smartphones can serve as assistive technology for people who are Blind or Partially Sighted (BPS) and people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH). The research was funded by the UK Department for International Development, Google, and ATScale – Global Partnership for Assistive Technology.
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AT2030 Frontiers symposium awardees
Royal Academy of EngineeringMarch 26, 2026NepalCase Studies and ReportsAwarded in December 2025 to participants of the AT2030 Frontiers symposium "Inclusive innovation in action: community-led Assistive Technology solutions in local context", held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 8 to 10 October 2025.
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Strengthening OPD Capacity for Inclusive Development in Nairobi County, Kenya
Kilimanjaro Blind TrustMarch 25, 2026KenyaCase Studies and ReportsThe Nairobi workshop revealed a system already in motion. OPDs are adapting, questioning, and beginning to reimagine inclusion in practical terms. With the support of a structured capacity-building framework, this momentum can be sustained and scaled, positioning OPDs not just as participants but as drivers of inclusive development in Nairobi and beyond.
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Old biases in new data: Inclusive preprocessing to create disability representation in synthetic datasets
Vicki Austin, Jamie DanemayerMarch 25, 2026Academic Research PublicationsPopulation-based data disaggregated by disability are essential for informed policymaking, especially for disability-inclusive development and the realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities. Both areas rely on accurate evidence and its efficient use, especially in the current global context of resource constriction. Disability inclusive data, and inclusive disaggregated data sets more widely can enable assessment of whether people with disabilities participate in society on equal terms with those without disabilities, as well as supporting difficult decision making about how and what to prioritise in a resource poor context.
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Strengthening OPD Capacity for Inclusive Development in Kisumu County, Kenya
Kilimanjaro Blind TrustMarch 25, 2026KenyaCase Studies and ReportsOrganisations working to bridge this gap face persistent challenges: gaps in digital literacy, limited access to assistive technologies, fragile organisational systems, and low visibility in decision-making spaces. Insights from a workshop convening 15 local leaders revealed a critical shift needed: moving from participation to influence. These findings directly inform the OPD Capacity Strengthening Framework, led by Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa (KBTA) and the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub). By strengthening governance, advocacy, digital capacity, and partnerships, the framework equips organisations to drive sustained, strategic influence in inclusive development.
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When Trauma Meets Assistive Technology: Emerging Faultlines from Global Expert Interviews
Catherine Holloway, Maryam BandukdaMarch 18, 2026GlobalAcademic Research PublicationsAssistive Technology (AT) has largely been designed around needs that, even when they change over time, are relatively predictable; yet trauma produces disruptions that are rapid, context-dependent, and culturally mediated. This paper asks: what conceptual tensions emerge when trauma recovery technology is viewed through an AT lens, and what do those tensions reveal about the limits and future direction of the field?
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Bridging the Digital Divide: Enhancing Digital Inclusion of Blind or Partially Sighted and Deaf or Hard of Hearing Individuals in Low- and Middle-Income Countries through Smartphones as Assistive Technology
Vicki Austin, Catherine Holloway, Dr Giulia Barbareschi, Laxmi Gunupudi, Vinicius Delgado Ramos, Satish Mishra, Maryam Bandukda, Amit PrakashMarch 17, 2026GlobalAcademic Research PublicationsIn this study, we developed a two-day scaffolded digital skills training intervention for mobile literacy for people who are blind or partially sighted (BPS) and deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) across three research settings: Brazil, India, and Kenya. Using an adapted Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire (MDPQ) administered at pre- and post-intervention, we measured the impact of the digital skills training intervention on the perceived proficiency in smartphone use.
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Supporting the support systems: Integrating assistive technology access into aging policy frameworks
Vicki Austin, Catherine Holloway, Jamie Danemayer, Shereen HusseinMarch 12, 2026GlobalAcademic Research PublicationsIndividuals who can obtain and effectively use assistive products, such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, and accessible software, are understood to have reliable access to assistive technology (AT). Such access is increasingly recognised as critical support in the context of global population ageing, where the prevalence of functional difficulties is rising and the demand for supportive solutions and services is expanding. In response, AT outcomes such as need, use, and unmet need are more often included in routine data collection systems, including censuses and household surveys. Similarly, dedicated surveys, such as the WHO Rapid Assistive Technology Assessment (rATA), have been successfully administered in dozens of countries, expanding the portfolio of available AT data.
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Beyond Stigma Workshop - ideas, learning and sharing
Loughborough UniversityJan. 27, 2026Case Studies and ReportsThe Beyond Stigma knowledge sharing workshop created a conversation that moved beyond awareness or attitude to focus on how stigma is produced through systems, and what that means for efforts to address it. Capturing reflections, experiences and learnings from the AT2030 Para Sport Against Stigma programme, the event provided an opportunity to step back and reflect - as is captured by the visual illustration of the disussions.
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OPD Country Level Strategy for Kenya
Global Disability Innovation HubDec. 19, 2025KenyaAT2030 ResourcesThe primary aim of this project is to develop an OPD Country Level Strategy for Kenya, titled: ‘How can technology support OPDs to build capacity, impact and influence’ - through a lens of Assistive Technologies which will include an OPD Capacity Building Framework co-created by OPDs.
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