Between Empowerment and Exclusion: Socio-technical Approaches to Modeling, Designing and Evaluating Inclusive Interactive Systems
Call for Participation
We invite researchers, practitioners, and experts from diverse disciplines to participate in the workshop Between Empowerment and Exclusion: Socio-technical Approaches to Modeling, Designing and Evaluating Inclusive Interactive Systems at Mensch und Computer 2026 in Duisburg, Germany.
Important Dates
- Submission Deadline for Workshop Papers: May 31st, 2026
- Notifications: June 21st, 2026
- Camera-ready Deadline: July 17th, 2026 (ultimate deadline for inclusion in proceedings)
- Workshop: August 30th, 2026 (2 pm to 5 pm) All deadlines are AoE.
All deadlines are AoE.
Submission
We invite submissions of position papers from authors with diverse backgrounds from technology and social sciences.
Submissions should be within the limit of 4 pages and must be anonymized and follow the SIGCHI Accessibility Guide for Authors. Authors are invited to use the ACM Conference Proceedings Article template. All submissions will be reviewed by two independent reviewers.
Venue & Program
The workshop will be held as part of the Mensch & Computer 2026 (MuC’26) conference in Duisburg, Germany.
The workshop is planned for August 30th, 2026 (Sunday afternoon). We aim for a half-day workshop (approximately 180 minutes, 2 pm to 5 pm) with the following format:
Time | Topic |
| 2 pm | Welcome and Introduction (15 min) |
| 2:15 pm | Short Paper Presentations with Q&A (60 min) |
| 3:15 pm | Break (15 min) |
| 3:30 pm | Group Discussion and Clustering of Positions (60 min) |
| 4:30 pm | Conclusion, Synthesis of Findings, and Next Steps (30 min) |
| From 5:00 pm | Informal Get-together |
Organizers
Susanne Dirks is deputy professor and senior researcher in rehabilitation technology at TU Dortmund University. In her research she focuses on assistive technologies for users with intellectual disabilities, participatory technology research and development and immersive and AI-based assistive technologies.
Kathrin Gerling is professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics (IAR) within the Faculty of Computer Science at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In her work she aims to contribute to understanding the relationship between physical differences, technology and social participation.
Frauke Mörike is head of the department of Work, Inclusion, and Technology at TU Dortmund University. Her research interests include the design of inclusive socio-technical work systems, new forms of collaboration for inclusive work environments.
Bastian Pelka is temporary professor for Sociology of Rehabilitation at Faculty of Rehabilitation Science at TU Dortmund, Germany. His fields of research are digital inclusion of people with disabilities, innovation of rehabilitation systems and AI for participation.
Jens Gerken is professor of Inclusive Human-Roboter Interaction at TU Dortmund University. His research interests and experiences cover a broad range of topics and focus on Human-Robot-Interaction.
Liane Bächler is professor of Participation in Physical and Motor Developmental Disabilities at TU Dortmund University. Her field of research are assistive technologies for physical and motor rehabilitation.
Mario Heinz-Jakobs is a research assistant in the 'Human-Technology Interaction' research group and Ph.D. student at Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lemgo (HSOWL).