Special Track on Advancing Inclusive and Accessible Technologies

in conjunction with ACM 6th International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good (ACM GoodIT 2026), 2-4 September 2026, Pisa, Italy

Link GoodIT 2026: https://goodit2026.di.unipi.it/

Link Special Track: https://sites.google.com/view/advancing-inclusive-tech/home

Theme and Scope

Modern devices and technologies can represent a digital barrier for users with disabilities, but they can be exploited to become enabling tools for them. Accessibility of devices and technologies is a critical topic to allow inclusion of all users, especially due to the European laws that impose accessibility for new products and the definition of an updated version of WCAG (Web Accessibility Guidelines). This track will invite scientists, engineers, and decision-makers from government, industry, and academia to present technical papers on their research and development results in areas of accessibility, including but not limited to the following topics:

• Accessible devices/assistive technologies: assistive technologies refer to all the assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities that enable users to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish. On the one hand, the widespread diffusion of new devices and technologies stimulates researchers to find and apply new solutions to make them accessible to anyone. On the other hand, experiences in accessibility-related fields have been exploited and have provided benefits to users equipped with non-conventional devices when they emerged in the market.

• Accessible solutions for e-learning, e-commerce, e-banking, etc.: e-services and content often require specific technologies, being bound by specific constraints when accessed by people with disabilities equipped with assistive technologies. Specific interaction modalities may affect interactive service access, while richness and quantity of content may affect the users’ ability to process information.

• Accessible content: e-books, accessible TV, accessible broadcasting, etc.

• Accessibility of games: digital games often pose complex accessibility challenges due to multimodal interaction, real-time dynamics, and immersive environments; research in this area includes adaptive gameplay mechanics, multimodal feedback (e.g., haptic, audio, and visual enhancements), AI-driven difficulty and interface personalization, accessible VR/AR gaming experiences, and inclusive game design frameworks that support players with sensory, motor, cognitive, and neurodivergent conditions while preserving engagement and playability.

• AI for Accessibility: AI can be exploited both for personalization (i.e., integrating AI-based personalization to support specific and special needs) and “enabler” (i.e., exploiting LLM to support the creation of accessible applications).

This track can interest many researchers since it would give the chance to face a wide range of topics, i.e., web or mobile technologies, with different points of view, taking into account specific technological constraints and digital barriers. It is well-known that the so-called “curb cut effect” can be applied to any technological and digital context (in terms of devices, content, and services): technologies that were originally meant to benefit people with disabilities can help any other users. Moreover, the history and the evolution of several technologies have been influenced and/or motivated by the special needs of people with disabilities.

Submission Guidelines

We would like to invite authors to submit papers on research in the Accessibility area, with particular emphasis on assessing the current state of the art and identifying future directions. Original papers addressing any of the listed topics of interest (or related topics) will be considered. 

The papers should follow the new ACM format (https://authors.acm.org/proceedings/production-information/taps-production-workflow). Submissions must be no more than 9 pages (ACM double column format). The indicated paper length includes references, tables, and figures. Documents with a length disproportionate to their contribution will be rejected. Each submitted paper will undergo a rigorous single-blind review process involving three evaluations each. Accepted papers will be included in the ACM GoodIT 2026 proceedings and published in the ACM digital library.

By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM's new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.

Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper. ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors. We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalisation; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.

Important Update on ACM’s new Open Access Publishing Model

Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 1,800 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 70–75%).

Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial or discretionary waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please refer to https://libraries.acm.org/acmopen/open-participants.

Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:

• $250 APC for ACM/SIG members

• $350 APC for non-members

This represents a 65% discount funded directly by ACM. Authors are encouraged to advocate for their institutions to join ACM Open during this transition period.

Important Dates

• Full Paper Submission: 17 May 2026

• Notification: 7 June 2026

• Camera-Ready: 21 June 2026

• Conference: 2-4 September 2026

Organization

• Ombretta Gaggi, University of Padua

• Silvia Mirri, University of Bologna

• Michael Paciello, AudioEye

• Catia Prandi, University of Bologna

• Chiara Ceccarini, University of Bologna

• Mirko Franco, University of Padua

Submission Portal

Please submit your contribution through our online portal available at https://goodit2026.hotcrp.com/. 

Contact Us

For any inquiries regarding the call for papers, please contact gaggi@math.unipd.it. 

We look forward to your contributions and to seeing you at the ACM GoodIT 2026 Conference!