Dundee uses Theatre to improve Accessibility

A creative writer and theatre director has been appointed as artist-in-residence with the Department of Applied Computing at the University of Dundee as part of making new communication and information technology more easily accessible for older people. Maggie Morgan’s appointment has been funded by a £12,000 grant from the Leverhulme Trust, with the post to last for ten months. She joins a department with a purpose-built theatre space, newly completed to further person-centred design work.

'I have already done some work with the department on addressing the issues that face older people as they try to adapt to new technology, and this grant gives us a wonderful opportunity to build further on that,' said Morgan.

Working in collaboration with the Foxtrot Theatre in Education Company and the department at Dundee, Morgan has previously produced two series of videos that illustrated some of the problems that occur (see UN story: Tools of Inspiration). She will help develop theatrical performances to be used in research into the needs and wants of older people.

The Department of Applied Computing is a partner with the School of Design in Duncan of Jordanstone College in a newly developed Interaction Design Laboratory, bringing together computing, creative design, and mechanical engineering academics in a consortium researching novel methods of interaction across the disciplines.

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