We hoped that by bringing together academic researchers, industrial developers and government practitioners we can promote improved policies and refined designs. These designs will serve the needs of novices and experts, young and old, English and non-English speakers, and fluent and struggling readers. Improved designs will also benefit disabled users and users working under disabling conditions. As the papers arrived and we read more about what researchers and practitioners were doing, our conviction grew that improvements were possible. In fact, evidence accumulated that designing for many different kinds of users often led to superior designs for all users.
Diversity promotes quality.
Maybe the outpouring of innovative ideas and the positive examples of success shouldn't have surprised us. After all pioneers such as Gregg Vanderheiden in the US, Allan Newell in England, and Constantine Stephanidis in Greece made this point a decade ago in dealing with designs for disabled and elderly users. This report produced strong responses from many sides including government agencies and corporate leaders. As researchers broadened their scope to examine developing nations the gaps became even more disturbing. In trying to improve the experience for those with slow network connections, old computers, or limited knowledge we are finding research themes that challenge computer scientists who work on operating systems, networks, databases, user interfaces, graphics and other topics.