About ICAAT

ICAAT's Origins

ICAAT is the Industry-Consumer Alliance for Accessible Technology. ICAAT was developed as part of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Technology Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (DHH Tech RERC), a federally funded research initiative led by Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program. Created in partnership with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), ICAAT was designed to strengthen collaboration between consumers with hearing loss and technology researchers and developers. It provides a structured ongoing mechanism for consumers and industry to work directly on the design, testing, and improvement of existing and emerging technologies.

• Create an industry and consumer alliance where consumers with hearing loss, Deaf consumers, and technology researchers and developers can collaborate for mutual benefit
• Provide deeper understanding of this consumer community and their real-world experiences
• Foster a participatory process where the consumer community becomes intrinsic at all stages and in all facets of design and development
• Inspire and support the development of more usable, accessible, and innovative technology solutions for these consumers

Implementing the Concept

ICAAT is a virtual collaborative space for our consumer and industry partners to interact in several ways. ICAAT contains four elements addressing each of our program goals.

ICAAT’s Tech Forum is a virtual community of practice welcoming consumers and technology producers. The Tech Forum facilitates discussions between and among consumers and technology producers, encourages the sharing of experiences, knowledge, and ideas around technology topics, and curates relevant resources and event listings.

ICAAT’s User Stories share the insights and experiences of everyday consumers with those who work to develop, improve, and expand the use of communication-assistive technologies and mainstream consumer technologies. Personal stories about the daily challenges that consumers, or “users,” face are a valuable and effective way to begin the design process for technology solutions.

ICAAT’s Co-Design Connect is a place where industry and research participants can recruit for market research and product testing activities, and consumers can learn about and respond to these recruitment opportunities. Industry and researchers may also request consultation with subject matter experts at Hearing Loss Association of America.

ICAAT’s Co-Design Essentials provides practical information for consumers, industry, and research participants when working together. Our practical information touches on a variety of topics, such as the product design and development process and understanding consent and data usage for consumers. For industry and researchers, topics such as communication preferences and best practices for providing communication access are discussed.

ICAAT's Funding

ICAAT was a 5-year development project (2019–2024) of the DHH Tech RERC at Gallaudet University. The DHH Tech RERC was funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). After development was completed, ICAAT has operated under the sole direction of the Hearing Loss Association of America.