Existing research into digital and technical solutions in working life 

The most important conclusions are that:

• there is limited research and evaluation of digital and technical aids to working life and their impact on increasing access to working life for people with disabilities;
• the studies that do exist are either pilot studies or involve a limited number of subjects, restricting the possibility of drawing any more general conclusions, even if studies of small numbers of individuals may provide an indication of whether solutions can make an important contribution;
• the vast majority of research into technologies in the field of disability is based on a specific disability or activity, such as seeing or hearing, navigating one’s surroundings, reading or writing, learning or understanding social communication, etc. This type of research proposes innovative technical solutions that can replace diminished function. It is also relatively common to find technological innovations for learning or training an ability, primarily cognitive or social abilities;
• the products developed are often based on an R&D project rather than basic research, often in the form of a feasibility study and proposals for new uses for a specific technology. Few of these R&D projects ever get to the stage of being implemented in working life;
• the practical experience of occupational therapists and other professionals working with workplace adaption does show that aids generally contribute to the ability of people with disabilities to perform their duties, but generally speaking these experiences are not systematically evaluated; and
• existing research is more likely to examine the rehabilitation of those injured in the workplace rather than how an unemployed person with disabilities might be brought into the workforce. This may be one contributing factor to why so many projects are dedicated to recreating or creating a function that an employer once had but has lost through injury or illness, rather than studying how technological developments can make the workplace accessible without the need for assistive technology.