Melanie Schaur,
"Assistive Technologies in Austria: Exploring the Impact of Legal Frameworks and Subsidies"
, in Petz, Andrea; Miesenberger, Klaus: ICCHP 2024: Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Open Access Compendium (OAC), Future Perspectives on Accessibility, AT and (e)Inclusion, Association ICCHP, Linz, Seite(n) 162-168, 2024, ISBN: 978-3-903480-07-0
Original Titel:
Assistive Technologies in Austria: Exploring the Impact of Legal Frameworks and Subsidies
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Buchtitel:
ICCHP 2024: Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Open Access Compendium (OAC), Future Perspectives on Accessibility, AT and (e)Inclusion
Original Kurzfassung:
Assistive Technology (AT) can improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities by promoting increased independence, social inclusion, and facilitating the ongoing demand for deinstitutionalization. Legislation and funding systems have a significant impact on access to AT. Therefore, the submitted paper asks which legal frameworks and funding schemes in Austria influence the affordability, access to, and use of AT with a special focus on housing, and whether existing legal frameworks and funding schemes in Austria allow for individualization in the provision of AT. A combination of methods was used to gain a comprehensive understanding of how legal frameworks and subsidy schemes influence access to AT in Austria. The empirical findings show that there is no formulated legal right to AT in general, and certainly not in the area of housing. So-called benefit catalogues for AT refer primarily to medical rehabilitation measures, are not standardized and do not reflect the state of the art. The financing of AT in Austria is not transparent. Some users have to rely on additional donations from private organizations, and often lengthy procedures prevent persons with disabilities from immediately getting to use the AT they need.
Forschungs-