Seamless Worlds for People with Physical Disabilities "Teilhabe ohne Anwesenheit"

For people with disabilities the Web holds great chances for transforming former barriers to information access, communication and participation at work and in social life. The research question underlying the described project is: What potentials do the Web and the latest Internet-technologies offer to students with extensive mobility limitations in terms of staying in touch with other people and participation in general day-to-day activities? "Teilhabe ohne Anwesenheit" denotes a future, where physically handicapped individuals are becoming much more independent in activities such as planning a journey, communicating with school friends during the holidays, or finding advise through various network communities enabled by the Web. This paper describes the technology portfolio and the standards that can be employed for creating the services and protocols required. This leads to the architecture of the Furtwangen Community Butler (FCB), integrating a number of services and with user access being controlled through a coordination protocol.