Access and Inclusion Services

David Banes is Director of David Banes Access and Inclusion Services and co-founder of Global symbols, having worked in assistive technology for the past 35 years leading assistive technology services in Europe and the Middle East, including Mada in Qatar from 2010-2016. He now works across the globe, including projects with low and medium-income countries in Eastern Europe, Africa and South Asia to support implementation of access and inclusion from policy to practice through capacity building.

He has a special interest in both emerging and low-cost technologies and their impact on people with a disability, including the use of AI to augment communication, emerging technologies and mobility, technology and self-management of mental health, addressing hidden disabilities including communication needs and autism and the use of innovation to build resilient AT and AAC services during the pandemic.

David writes regularly on the tools and techniques. Recent publications include emerging technologies and the impact on universal design for learning, economic return on investment in AT, and the potential impact of frugal innovation on the provision of assistive products. He is a founder and director of DATEurope, the Digital Assistive Technology association for Europe.

He speaks widely as a keynote and workshop facilitator on assistive and accessible technology at conferences and a range of bespoke events online and in person. He is on the editorial board of Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, Journal of Assistive Technologies and the Journal of Rehabilitation and the Journal of Disability and Rehabilitation, Assistive Technology. He is an adjunct Fellow o the University of Southampton.