AcTo Dementia
PhD supervisors
Professor Arlene Astell
Dr Chris Roast, Sheffield Hallam University
Researcher
Funder
The University of Sheffield
About the project
The AcTo Dementia project is focused on improving the accessibility of touchscreen apps for people living with dementia.
Devices featuring touchscreen interfaces are considered to be intuitive and therefore ideally suited for use by people with a dementia diagnosis, and there is growing evidence to support the application of touchscreen tablet computers in this context. The challenge is in identifying suitable and accessible apps on these devices from the vast range available.
Original development is one option, but the benefit to using existing apps is that there is greater choice and availability and any risk of stigmatisation is avoided. To address this challenge, the AcTo Dementia project has four key objectives:
Identify key features within touchscreen apps that increase their accessibility for people with dementia.
Develop an evidence-based framework that can be used to find the most accessible existing touchscreen apps for people with dementia.
Work with app developers to improve the accessibility of existing apps for people with dementia.
Share app recommendations with people with dementia and professional and family caregivers on a dedicated website.