In Moving towards inclusive design guidelines for socially and ethically aware HCI, Abascal and Nicolle push for inclusive design guidelines to prevent social exclusion, and propose some of these guidelines.

The authors argue that one of the main groups that should be considered in terms of HCI and social exclusion is people with disabilities, for they are often heavily reliant on computers to perform basic tasks. The authors argue that technology must be both accessible and usable to this group, and that technology ultimately can enhance quality of life. The authors provide an explanation of how more structured HCI methodologies can be created for the ease of use, giving the following processes as examples: adaptation of existing systems and applications of human computer interaction paradigms to assistive technology. The authors argue that the most promising design techniques are systems that bridge the gap between the user and the technology. The authors also call for an attitude change surrounding people with disabilities capabilities using computers, and explain some good (security, social integration, personal communication) and bad (social isolation, economic barriers, loss of privacy) of technology use for these groups. Finally, the authors call for ethically aware design guidelines by providing a few case studies as examples.

A common theme I found prevalent throughout the paper was the idea of “standard” and what that means for software. I found the description of the universal accessibility philosophy, which stresses the need for interfaces without barriers, especially interesting and relevant. It makes me wonder, as technology is continuing to advance, are more or less barriers being created? Is it harder to establish this standard?