In Europe, large numbers of people with disabilities are willing to work but have problems finding a job. One of the barriers to this is job complexity, particularly for those with low education, low IQ, or cognitive impairments. Digital technologies might help. Specifically, cognitive support technology (CST) has the potential to make jobs less complex and thus more accessible. CST may concern step-by-step digital instructions presented with monitors, tablets, smart phones, beamer projections, or near-eye displays. Based on cross-case evaluations, we aimed to define the success factors in the process of technology selection, development, and implementation. Four cases, situated at public social firms which offer jobs to people with disabilities, were selected. In each case, the optimal form of CST was selected. A qualitative analysis of subjective experiences of work accessibility, performance, usability, and acceptance was applied. The results were positive for most participants in most cases. Once installed, the CST was successful in simplifying jobs. A proportion of the workforce for which a specific job had been considered too complex was able to perform that job when supported by CST. Moreover, a majority of people judged the usability of the technology positively. For the consecutive steps of selection, development, and implementation, we ended up with eleven factors of success; these included, among others, shared and transparent decision making (in technology selection), the iterative and active involvement of workers to optimally adjust work instructions (in technology development), and explicit attention for psychosocial barriers (in technology implementation).

Technology for vulnerable people on the labour market. A human-centric approach New ict and robots in the workplace may raise productivity but can have negative effects on people. A human-centered approach and human-centered technology may prevent negative outcomes. In the present article, this is outlined for the diverse and vulnerable group of ‘people with distance to the labour market’.These people face difficulties in getting a job and holding a job for a long period of time. For getting a job, they may need support in getting motivated and acquiring the necessary skills. For holding a job, support may be needed for adequate task performance, for staying healthy and vital, for personal development and for being able to switch from one job to another.Various technologies may provide one or more of these types of support. In particular, cognitive support technology has a great potential to make difficult work easier and therefore more accessible to more people. In three case descriptions we illustrate the application of a human-centered approach and the potential of operator support technology for cognitively impaired people.The case description shows the surplus value of the human centered approach, analyzing first the barriers and needs of the people involved, before iteratively testing and developing the technology with an active involvement of end-users. The described cases as well as other small-scale pilots contribute to our insight in the potential of operator support technology in increasing the accessibility of jobs for cognitively impaired people. The quantification of effects on work participation requires application of this type of technology on a much larger scale.

Large groups in society, in particular people with low literacy, lack the necessary proactivity and problem-solving skills to be self-reliant. One omnipresent problem area where these skills are relevant regards filling in forms and questionnaires. These problems could be potentially alleviated by taking advantage of the possibilities of information and communication technology (ICT), for example by offering alternatives to text, interactive self-explaining scales and easily accessible background information on the questionnaires' rationale. The goal of this paper was to present explorative design guidelines for developing interactive questionnaires for low-literate persons. The guidelines have been derived during a user-centered design process of the Dutch Talking Touch Screen Questionnaire (DTTSQ), an interactive health assessment questionnaire used in physical therapy. The DTTSQ was developed to support patients with low health literacy, meaning they have problems with seeking, understanding and using health information. A decent number of guidelines have been derived and presented according to an existing, comprehensive model. Also, lessons learned were derived from including low-literate persons in the user-centered design process. The guidelines should be made available to ICT developers and, when applied properly, will contribute to the advancement of (health) literacy and empower citizens to fully participate in society.