Call for papers:
Special Issue of ACM
Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)
on
“Online Communities
and People with Disabilities”
Guest Editors
Panayiotis Zaphiris & Ulrike Pfeil, Centre for HCI Design
The focus of this special issue will be on papers that address the design and study of online communities for people with disabilities and for older people. Theoretical issues and practical challenges in these areas such as analysis of empathic communities, design and evaluation methodologies as well as implementation will be of interest to this issue.
The term online community is generally used to refer to people who meet and communicate in an online environment. Rather than physical proximity, researchers use the nature and strength of relationships among the members to determine the characteristics of an online community. Online communities are formed around similar interests (for example discussions around a disability) of the members. People who have similar needs or experiences meet in online communities in order to exchange valuable resources and/or to engage in social support. An increasing number of people spend time in online communities to make friends, develop relationships, and exchange emotional support. Social interaction online can especially be beneficial for people with special needs (and for older people) as it allows them to stay in contact with family and friends despite the disability or time-constraints.
The
emphasis for TACCESS publications is placed on experimental results, although
strong papers presenting new theoretical insights or positions are also given
consideration.
Additional information for prospective authors can be found at:
http://www.is.umbc.edu/taccess/authors.html
THEMES
Contributions from both the academic community and industry are most welcomed. Potential topics include (but are not limited to) the following:
Submission process
Prospective authors should as soon as possible (but before 15th of June 2007) submit a tentative title and a short abstract (maximum 150 words) to Panayiotis Zaphiris (zaphiri@soi.city.ac.uk). Authors of abstracts that are judged to fit the themes of the special issue will be promptly invited to submit a full paper. Full paper should follow the journal’s suggested writing format (http://www.is.umbc.edu/taccess/authors.html) and should be submitted directly to the editors of this special issue (zaphiri@soi.city.ac.uk)
Important dates: