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Area(s) of Application: Product Development, Social and Vocational Integration
Relevant Player(s): Research Institute
Thematic Issue(s): Methods / Strategies, Obstacles, Possibilities, Recommendations
Methods/Strategies: Field Studies, Questionnaires, Interviews

Abstract: The main objective of the TEDIS (TEleworking for DISabled People) project is to develop a prototypical teleworkstation for end-users with special needs such as people with severe disabilities, which should be easily and cheaply reproducible by industry and be use for a large group of handicapped people. Within the proceedings the Forschungsinstitut Technologie-Behindertenhilfe (FTB) carried out a field study on the technical evaluation and the investigation of social criteria of home-based telework. During the field study both a computer surface allowing general accessibility to the INTERNET developed by GMD-German National Research Center for Information Technology and the layout of a generally accessible teleworkstation were to be tested and evaluated. Additionally, the project was focussed on investigating the social significance of home-based telework.
Two severely disabled persons (both are wheelchair-users) were involved, in order to carry out telework from home. The assessment process itself was carried out by structured usability-interviews, which took place at the testsite. In this context, technical aspects of teleworking and further information about the social environment of the two teleworkers, their self-awareness, their expectations towards vocational life as well as their attitude towards telework was gathered and evaluated by means of questionnaires.

Project Name: TEDIS
Name of Institution GMD, FTB, Siemens-Nixdorf

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