The proposed paper examines the state of the art in Assistive Technologies (AT) for neurodiverse individuals in higher education, focusing on dyslexia as a primary example. The rationale of the study is to highlight the significant role that AT plays in supporting students with dyslexia in higher education, improving their academic performance, their overall learning experience and their ability to cope in everyday life. The primary objective of this study is to provide an overview of existing ATs and evaluate their effectiveness for neurodiverse individuals, focusing on dyslexia. This involves identifying current advances, understanding user experiences and identifying the most beneficial tools for supporting students with dyslexia in higher education. The proposed paper employs a three-step approach, which includes a systematic review of the literature, a comprehensive collection of additional ATs from online sources, and an empirical assessment of the effectiveness of selected tools for dyslexic students in higher education. The conclusion identifies the use of technology to address the challenges of persons with dyslexia in higher education, as well as technology gaps and suggests future research directions for AT for neurodiverse students in higher education.

Testing websites for accessibility with certified agencies is often time-consuming, complex, and costly. The Easy Web Check (EWC) is a simplified and open method for testing website accessibility with free tools, but it is not yet validated. This paper examines the correct use of the EWC by non-experts. To this end, a user study is conducted in which participants review the test criteria of the EWC on 2-3 websites each. To date, 21 participants have taken part, six completing the entire test. On average, 66% of the tasks were completed correctly, with automated testing methods demonstrating a higher number of correct assessments. The preliminary results suggest that the EWC is suitable for identifying accessibility barriers and has the potential to help non-experts improve website accessibility. However, some test criteria require more detailed explanation and examples to reduce testing errors.

This study details the development of an assistive technology (AT) designed to support People with ADHD in task organization and time management. The tech development the User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology, in four stages: (0) planning, (1) target audience analysis, (2) solution development, and (3) evaluation. Usability and accessibility were assessed using Nielsen’s heuristics, user testing, and automated accessibility tools. Preliminary results suggest the mobile application enhances organizational skills and time management, promoting autonomy and confidence among users with ADHD while ensuring a good user experience through a structured, user-centered design approach.

Ensuring cognitive accessibility in written texts is crucial for individuals with cognitive disabilities. The Easy-to-Read (E2R) Methodology provides guidelines for adapting texts, yet its manual application remains time-consuming and costly. This initial research explores the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) to infer and transfer rule-based linguistic knowledge representations (LKRs) from Spanish to German for two E2R guidelines: explanatory relative clauses and dialogue formatting. We evaluated three LLMs, finding that only Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct-1M generated a usable LKR, which still required extensive manual refinement. The results show that while LLMs performed well in identifying dialogues, their effectiveness in adapting complex structures remained limited. Manually adjusted rules improved accuracy but still required human oversight. Future work will analyse LLMs specifically trained for German and additional E2R guidelines to expand results. Additionally, user evaluations will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of adapted texts for individuals with cognitive disabilities.