Barrier-free Access Research Articles

Mobility restriction and barrier-reduced housing among people aged 65 or older in Germany: Do those who need it live in barrier-reduced residences?

Older people spend a lot of time at home and in the area near where they live. Housing conditions ensure their ability to participate in social life, especially when they suffer from mobility restrictions. Barrier-free access to the residence and to rooms within the residence is a key condition for their everyday mobility. As a result, this is what we define as minimal criteria for barrier-reduced residences. This article examines the extent to which people aged 65 and over (including people with mobility issues) live in barrier-reduced housing and what factors influence the chance of living in such residences. Cross-sectional data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) 2020/21 (persons aged 65 and over, n = 2,854) were used. The DEAS is a representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of the population aged 40 and over in Germany. In our analyses, we used logistic regression models to investigate the probability of living in a barrier-reduced residence. We defined housing as barrier-reduced when the apartment/house and the rooms inside it can be reached without steps or stairs. As explanatory variable, we considered mobility restrictions, defined as limited ability to climb a flight of stairs. In addition, the model includes other individual factors (age, gender, equivalized household income), regional factors (living in East vs. West Germany, in urban vs. rural region) and moving to the current residence after the age of 65. Of all individuals aged 65 or older, 19.3 percent live in a barrier-reduced residence. Also, of mobility-restricted elders, only 21.4 percent have such residences. The logistic regression results show that mobility restrictions are associated with a higher probability of living in a barrier-reduced residence. Compared to the lowest income group, older people in the highest income group are more likely to live in barrier-reduced housing. East Germans and people in urban areas are less likely to live in a barrier-reduced home. The likelihood of barrier-reduced living is higher among seniors who moved into their current residence after age 65. No significant differences were found for age groups and gender. The findings show that not enough seniors have barrier-reduced access to their homes and rooms, even if they suffer from mobility restrictions. Preventing functional restrictions must therefore also include improvements in the residential environment, especially in disadvantaged residential areas.

ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯ ОСВІТНЬОГО ПРОСТОРУ НОВОЇ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ШКОЛИ: ДИДАКТИЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

The article analyses the issue of the organisation of the educational space of the New Ukrainian School. The author focuses on the possibilities of the impact of the educational space of primary school on the quality and effectiveness of the learning process of primary school students. The educational space is considered a certain part of society, which creates the conditions for personal development and the opportunity to form the personal space of the subject of the educational process, and the educational environment – as a set of natural, physical, and social objects and subjects that influence the formation of the student, to his\her creative, professional and personal development, ensure the conditions for comfortable activity of an education applicant. The main requirements for the educational environment of a modern primary school are defined as safety, psychological comfort, barrier-free access, aesthetics, and functionality. The author argues that in the context of the implementation of the Concept of the New Ukrainian School, the educational space is undergoing a number of transformations due to the introduction of a competence-based approach to the organization of the primary school education process, the requirements for the development of XXI century skills in students; re-emphasis on innovative technologies and forms of work with students, the processes of informatisation of the education system, and the implementation of activity-based and personality-oriented approaches. The educational space is undergoing a series of transformations, and updating of spatial and material equipment requires a thoughtful arrangement of the classroom. The leading role in organizing the educational space of the New Ukrainian School is performed by a teacher, involving primary school students in this process whenever possible. The paper analyses the purpose and features of the organization of learning units and learning centres (reading and writing centres, natural sciences, and art centres) in the classroom, substantiating the optimal ways of their functioning in the process of teaching primary school students. The current study proves that the educational space of the New Ukrainian School significantly affects the effectiveness of the learning process and the implementation of didactic tasks of primary education.

The conceptual of barrier-free access for passengers based on transit-oriented development in Greater Jakarta - Indonesia

Increased mobility in the Greater Jakarta area has brought demand for people's accessibility. Providing a barrier-free travel system needs to be supported by understanding travel needs and the characteristics of the user community. This paper aims to describe the actual condition of barrier-free availability for public transport passengers based on Transit Oriented Development, then proposes a development concept. The research was conducted at several public transport nodes in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia. The data analysis method uses a qualitative descriptive analysis which explains the existing condition of the area, facilities, potential, and development plans. From observations, several locations have implemented the barrier-free principle to support the movement of all groups. Barrier-free facilities are generally found at mass public transportation stations such as Light Rapid Transit (LRT) and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). In contrast, at Commuter Line (CL) stations, the concept has begun to be applied, and barrier-free facilities have been provided even though the number and limited kind. When using public transportation, barrier-free facilities must be improved for all groups, including seniors, people with physical and mental limitations, and pregnant women. Persons with disabilities may experience difficulties in accessing public facilities, such as narrow sidewalks, steep roads, and incomplete pelican crossing systems. Development can refer to regulations that the government has prepared. The development of various public transport that is currently underway must be balanced with the readiness of massive barrier-free facilities. Regulators and public transport operators in Indonesia can use the development of barrier-free facilities in other countries, such as Japan.

Employment Survey of Wheelchair Users and Influential Factors Identified in a Social Enterprise in Hong Kong

Wheelchair users often face both physical and psychological barriers to employment due to restrictions on body movement and inadequate infrastructure in the environment. Over the years, the Hong Kong government and authorities have gradually improved barrier-free access in establishments and major transport service. Employment support has been offered in terms of job pairing, subsidies for employers, and training programs while regulation is not adopted. Individual voices of wheelchair users were usually conveyed through local community groups working to serve their needs. The collection of quantitative data on the employment situation of wheelchair users could provide evidence for representatives to address their concerns during discussions with government committees. While environmental obstructions are removable, personal barriers and motivating factors are less visible and endogenous. This collaboration project with a social enterprise has collected employment data of their members who are wheelchair users and explored factors associated with their employment prospects.

RF-Access: Barrier-Free Access Control Systems with UHF RFID

Traditional RFID-based access control systems use flap barriers to help manage pedestrian access and block unauthorized staff at any entrance, which requires visitors to swipe their cards individually and wait for the opening of the blocking body, resulting in low-frequency pedestrian access and even congestion in places with large passenger flow. This paper proposes a barrier-free access control system (RF-Access) with UHF RFID technology. The main advantage of RF-Access is that it provides non-intrusive access control by removing flap barriers and operations of swiping the card. The visitors just go across the system without any stay at the entrance. Meanwhile RF-Access performs the authentication, which greatly improves time efficiency and quality of service. RF-Access addresses two key issues of the non-intrusive access control: motion direction detection and illegal intrusion detection. In RF-Access, we first propose a dual-antenna system setup together with a time-slot-based model to monitor users’ moving directions, which is robust to different environmental factors, such as multi-path effects. Afterwards, we use a tag array to detect illegal intrusion in case attackers do not carry any RFID tags. We implement a prototype of RF-Access with commercial RFID devices. Extensive experiments show that our system can detect the moving direction with 99.83% accuracy and detect illegal intrusion with an accuracy of 96.67%.

INCLUSIVE MUSIC EDUCATION: PERSPECTIVES AND PROBLEMS

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
 With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
 Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
 And – which is more – you'll be a Man, my son!"
 ("If" by Rudyard Kipling)
 The article is devoted to the topic of introducing inclusive education in Ukrainian art institutions. The historical background of the genesis of the phenomenon of inclusion in society is presented, as well as a description of the state of art education during the Soviet totalitarianism. It is noted that inclusion in art is a synthesis of a number of components, among them relevant are: legislation (national and international), historical background, mental features, socio-cultural context. The content of inclusive education in art schools and specialized music schools operating at conservatories is also considered. Attention was drawn to the problems of implementing inclusion in such educational institutions, because just a few years ago, such a model of education with its equal opportunities and barrier-free access was not a priority and was not even considered. It is noted that the new paradigm in general (and, in particular, in art education) is a complex system of knowledge in pedagogy, medicine, psychology, which is necessary for the integration and adaptation of a special contingent of people into society.
 One of the pedagogical art programs for working with children with disabilities in educational institutions, created by direct participants in the educational process – music teachers of one of the regional art schools, was presented. It is noted that the document approves the education system for children with special educational needs as vertical-horizontal (in fact, the usual simple Descartes coordinate system), because the level of the program takes into account the age qualification of the applicant (child) and is directly related to the psychophysical development of the applicant. The main provisions, goals and principles, directions of implementation of the "Concept of inclusive art education" are also outlined, which cover the entire spectrum of this paradigm in education.
 The article highlights the non-institutional form of inclusion in art: festivals, creative competitions. It is noted that this form of entry of a child into society is no less important than the actual education in educational institutions.
 The study uses empirical research methods: observation, synthesis, and analysis.
 The paper concludes that the needs of society (including the humanization of education, Ukraine's attempts to join the European community), which required urgent solutions, created a situation in which professionally high-quality personnel of art educational institutions were psychologically unprepared to work with children with special educational needs. That is why the presented work indicates that the teaching staff prepared for specific working conditions is the primary link, the basis for further successful development of inclusion in art education.

Pflegeberatung – Lessons learnt aus einer Expert*innenbefragung zur Versorgungssituation im Landkreis Lörrach

BackgroundThere is a broad spectrum of care counselling offers. Various professional groups, each with different qualifications and objectives, carry out the counselling, and the accessibility and the service offers of the counselling centres vary greatly. The aim of this study was to develop recommendations for persons in need of care and their relatives in order to a) create more transparency and knowledge about the spectrum of care counselling for those in need of care and their relatives as well as the professionals in the field, and b) to optimize the structures of the heterogeneous spectrum of care counselling by means of a qualitative study with experts using the example of the district of Lörrach. MethodsBased on a systematic literature research, 21 semi-structured expert interviews of five different stakeholder groups (representatives of persons in need of care and their relatives, service providers, suppliers, county and municipalities, politicians) were analyzed. All interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was conducted based on the structuring content analysis according to Kuckartz. ResultsNine main categories emerged from 21 experts’ transcripts. The findings from four main categories relating to the criterion of transparency are shown below as examples. The experts report on numerous obstacles that they recognize for persons in need of care and their relatives in order to be able to take advantage of care counselling in a highly complex health care system. For people with no background knowledge of the health care system, the current care counselling structure is not transparent, and it is almost impossible to differentiate between the various care counselling services, some of which have different tasks to fulfil. The basic topic-specific advisory structure is characterized by multiple uncoordinated structures, also with regard to care, which makes it difficult even for professionals to gain an overview and orientation towards a targeted use of the counselling services for those seeking advice, such as persons in need of care and their relatives. The experts reaffirm the importance of creative ideas and different channels, taking into account generational differences and different information behaviour among those seeking advice, in order to increase the provision of information and the visibility of care counselling services. Low-threshold, citizen-oriented, regional and barrier-free access to information must be set up for persons in need of care and their relatives. At the district level, a central platform should be established primarily aimed at professional users which many want to be located at the care support center or, for example, at the district office where all threads come together and which includes all care counselling services and their areas of activity. Discussion and ConclusionOverall, the study results reveal numerous systemic weaknesses in the spectrum of care counselling services and in the care system, which in this study were limited to the regional research field and considered from the perspective of care management. The analysis of the results highlights the importance of optimizing the structural quality of care counselling. A need to reform social legislation and, above all, long-term care insurance (Eleventh Book of the Social Code), can be derived from the interview analysis and should be further investigated in a nationwide survey.

Preferences of Older People With a Life-Limiting Illness: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

There is limited evidence about which elements and characteristics of palliative care service provision improve the experiences of older people living with life-limiting illness. To evaluate older patients' (≥65 years) preferences for elements of services and supports and to explore relationships between patient characteristics and the patterns of preferences. A cross-sectional survey undertaken in Ireland and England using a Discrete Choice Experiment with people accessing specialist palliative care services. A random-effects probit model was used to estimate patient preferences. Of the 77 patients were interviewed, 51 participated in the Discrete Choice Experiment component of the interview (response rate=66%). Participants prioritized support that minimized unpaid caregiver burden (P < 0.001). They also preferred ease of access to services including out-of-hours access (P < 0.001) and free care at home (P < 0.001). Quality of life was prioritized over quantity of life (<0.001). People living with a life-limiting illness value care that focuses on quality of life, ensures barrier-free access to services and provides sufficient support for relatives. In the context of limited resources and growing demand for care, this study provides evidence about the service elements palliative care delivery models should prioritize and evaluate.

Foreign Language Tandem Learning in Social VR

Abstract Hololingo! is a social virtual reality app for real-time immersive distance learning of German as a Foreign Language (GFL). The acquisition of discoursive oral language skills for applied authentic contexts is challenging for group-based classroom settings and is often outsourced to autonomous analogue tandem learning. We operationalise a Digital Game-Based Language Learning (DGBLL) approach for distance learning, which relieves tandems from overstraining autonomy and self-guidance. Hololingo! supports tandems in their learning activities by providing entertaining communicative, collaborative, and didactically designed team tasks. These are embedded in a narrative adventure, target linguistic phenomena, and support the holistic acquisition of oral discourse competencies and fluency. The combination of the tandem principle, immersive Social VR gamification, barrier-free access to a global pool of expert/native speakers, and a curricular connection through task selection facilitates language learning and provides transcultural contacts. App development follows a Design-Based-Research cycle of conception, implementation, and evaluation. The results of a qualitative discourse analysis of the learning interaction are discussed with regard to tandem role behaviour, the relation between task design and communication as well as affective and creative behaviour.

An overview of information systems and data handling of Hungarian living communities from the perspective of General Data Protection Regulation requirements and information security

There are multiple challenges present in the daily lives of living communities regarding legal and organizational matters, as well as issues concerning information technology and informational security, which demand a constant search for appropriate solutions. Reviewing these issues is especially important in Hungary, where one-fifth of the population lives in facilities that are maintained by the community itself. Moreover, the trends of the current real estate market point towards a rise in these numbers. Throughout our research, we have examined current Hungarian legal practices regarding data handling and information security. The central focus of our inquiry was to determine the typical behaviour of Hungarian officials working with, handling, storing and processing data of the country’s living communities. This study analyses market solutions for these condominium buildings to comply with the legal requirements and also reviews the legal and economic limitations of such practices. Special attention is devoted to the handling and processing of personal data, with an emphasis on forecasted trends of cyber threat in 2018.&#x0D; The central subjects of our study, then, are legislative practices relevant for living communities, the protection of personal data, and information security issues in general. Thus, we examine the typical and most widespread software solutions deployed by resident managers, while also shedding light, with empirical research methods, on the level of data protection in such software packages. Since barrier-free access to information on condominium resident managers and communities themselves, as well as annual financial reports will be mandatory from January 1, 2019, resulting in the creation of a national register for resident managers, we extend our inquiry to the relationship between public administration bureaus and such living communities in the predictive section of our study.

Call for Papers: “Psychological Perspectives on Science Communication”

Call for Papers: “Psychological Perspectives on Science Communication”

Accessible nature beyond city limits – A scoping review

The health and well-being benefits of nature contact are well known, but inequitably distributed across society. Focusing on the access needs of persons with a disability, the purpose of this study was to systematically examine research on the accessibility of nature-based tourism and recreation spaces outside of urban/community settings. Following a scoping review methodology, this study sought to examine policies, services, physical infrastructures, and regulatory standards intended to enable equitable use of nature-based settings by individuals of all ages and abilities, particularly persons with a disability. In total, 41 relevant studies were identified and analyzed. Findings indicate that there are considerable gaps in the provision of services and information that enable self-determination in the use and enjoyment of nature, and that accessibility in nature-based settings is conceptualized through three interrelated policy/design pathways: the adaptation pathway, the accommodation pathway, and the universal design pathway. As a whole, accessibility policy and standards research specific to natural settings outside of urban/community settings is highly limited. There are growing calls to promote inclusive nature experiences in tourism and recreation spaces outside of community settings. Management of such spaces must reconcile equity concerns with a host of other priorities like environmental conservation. In the case of promoting universal accessibility, few studies offer insight into the detailed standards that must be met to create barrier-free access, let alone how to integrate such standards with other management priorities. Transdisciplinary research partnerships that involve management personnel, environmental and public health researchers, and persons with a disability are needed to identify effective management synergies. • Accessibility is understood as the embodied experience of natural spaces. • Studies of accessibility standards for nature spaces are extremely limited. • Longitudinal and experimental studies of accessible nature are lacking. • Ableist management attitudes/cultures are a key barrier to self-determination.

India's New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 Creating Children with Disability

Under the New Education Policy, all teacher education programmes will include instruction on how to teach children with specific impairments. The LATEST PROVISION in the NEW School POLICY (NEP) 2020, approved by India's Union Cabinet in July 2020, encourages, and promotes "Barrier-free access to Education for all Children with Disabilities." India's first Education Policy was initially established in 1986 and last revised in 1992. Since then, India needed a change in its entire Education Policy. The New Education Policy describes the much-awaited new reforms that India was looking for. These adaptations are designed with special consideration for children with impairments and those from low-income families. The focus of this new rule's implementation will be on two things. Imparting knowledge and know how to teach faculties on how to teach children with specific disabilities. These nobs are keeping in mind the Right of Persons with Disability Act-2016 to provide barrier-free education to children with disability. The most common barrier to a child's access to pre-school and primary education is disability. Less than 40% of school buildings have ramps, and only around 17% of schools have accessible restrooms. According to the NEP, children with disabilities will be able to participate equally in all aspects of the educational system. This paper focuses the provisions given in the New Education Policy 2020 for the divyangjan to show how education for them must be barrier-free trying to reach them. It is also a step to bring the divyangjan in the mainstream of learning.

Gender norms, HIV risk, and attitudes towards pre-exposure prophylaxis and other HIV preventive interventions among South African adolescents.

Introductionwe examined HIV-related social norms and perceptions among South African adolescents aged 15-18 years and evaluated their openness to using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce HIV risk.Methodswe analyzed cross-sectional data of 4,567 adolescents aged 15-18 years from the “fifth South African National HIV prevalence, HIV incidence, behaviour and communication survey (2017/2018)”. Outcomes of interest in our study were HIV-related social norms and awareness of HIV prevention methods, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).Resultsour results showed that compared to their female counterparts, a significantly higher percentage of male adolescents endorsed the statement “Men can have two or more sexual partners at the same time” (14.2% vs 10.1%, p=0.021). Condoms were the most popular method of HIV prevention, with 83.5% of all participants reporting awareness. Yet, 35.4% of those sexually active in the past year reported not using condoms all the time. Perceived parental sex education and exposure to community campaigns for HIV prevention were both associated with increased awareness of HIV prevention measures and openness to PrEP. Unaided recall of PrEP was very low (3.7%), but most of those who were HIV seronegative (69.3%) were open to using it after learning about it. Openness towards PrEP was significantly higher among those reporting vs not reporting past-year sexual activity (adjusted prevalence ratio (APR=1.16, 95%CI, 1.06-1.28), and binge-drinking (APR=1.24, 95%CI, 1.08-1.41).Conclusionthis study showed that while many South African adolescents were interested in trying PrEP, initial awareness was low. Ensuring barrier-free access to evidence-based preventive strategies may benefit public health.

Public transport as a means of socialization of people with limited mobility

The article deals with the problems of accessibility of socio-cultural facilities of the urban environment for low-mobility groups of population living in remote regions of the country. The inspection carried out by the representatives of the working group on monitoring of the social sphere and the interviewing of citizens with health impairment themselves revealed low indicators of implementation of the State programme “Accessible Environment” at cultural and recreational facilities in the city of Chita. The article presents the level of accessibility of city museum, exhibition and cultural institutions. It does not exceed 40%, and it coincides with the position of citizens with health impairment. In their opinion, free access to socio-cultural facilities in the city is difficult due to the unequipped structural and functional zones of all cultural objects. The employees of these institutions do not have the experience of an inclusive culture and the ability to accompany visitors in need. An independent visit without an accompanying person is unsafe and extremely difficult due to the lack of accessible and informational conditions. In conclusion, the authors of the article came to the conclusion that without real, collaborative and integrated work, taking into account the existing problems of accessibility of socio-cultural facilities in Chita, it is not possible to solve the problem of barrier-free accessibility for people with disabilities.

スペクトログラムを用いた車いす走行時の路面推定

The sidewalks we use in our daily lives are made of various surface materials, such as asphalt pavement and concrete pavement. In terms of barrier-free access, Braille blocks are provided on the sidewalks. Barrier-free maps are also available to assist wheelchair users in their daily lives. The Barrier-Free Map shows the location of wheelchair-accessible restrooms and the status of barrier-free facilities at stations and stores. However, it does not indicate the type of road surface, deterioration conditions and other information necessary for wheelchair users to travel. Wheelchair users may experience problems in riding and driving due to uneven road surfaces, bumps, and joints between blocks. However, it is difficult to select a comfortable travel route in advance because the road surface condition cannot be determined without visiting the road. In addition, wheelchair users have the problem of not knowing whether they can drive on their own or need assistance without directly checking the road surface conditions. If the road conditions can be provided to wheelchair users in advance, they can take the most appropriate route. In this study, we report on a road surface estimation method that uses the vibrations generated during wheelchair driving. The following six types of road surfaces were used in the experiment. These road surfaces were wood flooring, two types of asphalt pavement, two types of interlocking block pavement, and a wood deck floor. The wheelchair used was equipped with four vibration sensors for data collection. The vibration sensors were mounted on a frame with casters and tires on its axis. The vibration data collected in the experiment was the result of a 20 [m] straight run on each of the road surfaces. For road surface estimation, a learning model was built for deep learning using spectrum images for the vibration data. As a result, five types of road surfaces could be discriminated with an accuracy of more than 80%.

SBMLWebApp: Web-Based Simulation, Steady-State Analysis, and Parameter Estimation of Systems Biology Models

In systems biology, biological phenomena are often modeled by Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) and distributed in the de facto standard file format SBML. The primary analyses performed with such models are dynamic simulation, steady-state analysis, and parameter estimation. These methodologies are mathematically formalized, and libraries for such analyses have been published. Several tools exist to create, simulate, or visualize models encoded in SBML. However, setting up and establishing analysis environments is a crucial hurdle for non-modelers. Therefore, easy access to perform fundamental analyses of ODE models is a significant challenge. We developed SBMLWebApp, a web-based service to execute SBML-based simulation, steady-state analysis, and parameter estimation directly in the browser without the need for any setup or prior knowledge to address this issue. SBMLWebApp visualizes the result and numerical table of each analysis and provides a download of the results. SBMLWebApp allows users to select and analyze SBML models directly from the BioModels Database. Taken together, SBMLWebApp provides barrier-free access to an SBML analysis environment for simulation, steady-state analysis, and parameter estimation for SBML models. SBMLWebApp is implemented in Java™ based on an Apache Tomcat® web server using COPASI, the Systems Biology Simulation Core Library (SBSCL), and LibSBMLSim as simulation engines. SBMLWebApp is licensed under MIT with source code freely available. At the end of this article, the Data Availability Statement gives the internet links to the two websites to find the source code and run the program online.

Evaluation on the Internal Public Space Quality in Affordable Housing Based on Multi-Source Data and IPA Analysis

Much affordable housing has poor accessibility to external urban public space facilities because of its suburb location, which makes the residents’ daily life and social activities mainly depend on the internal public space of the community. Such affordable housing needs urgent upgrading of the internal public space based on the thorough understanding of the low-income residents’ demand ranking. The internal spaces’ transformation will significantly improve the living environment and the quality of residents’ life, and it also provides a way to promote social equity and sustainable urban development. By using the multi-source data and the two-step floating catchment area method, this paper selects typical affordable housing, which has poor accessibility to external urban public space, as our case study. After establishing the evaluation index system, IPA (Importance and Performance Analysis) is used to calculate the quadrant value of each index so as to clarify the upgrading urgency indexes from the residents’ demand for internal public space of affordable housing. Studies have shown that tables, chairs and pavilions, pedestrian systems, retail commercial facilities, medical and health facilities, and recreational space have the strongest urgency for upgrading; fitness facilities, exercise space, barrier-free access, guidance signs and parking lot design are the next most urgent indexes; Recreational facilities, entrances/exits of the residential area, green space in front of t residential buildings, and cultural facilities all have general urgency for upgrading.

The problems of young disabled people in St. Petersburg: sociological analysis

Disability as a social problem is one of the most pressing phenomena of modern Russian society. The article analyzes young disabled people as a specific social group and the problems they face in their lives. Young disabled people are quite an active social group, they participate in youth activities, reveal their talents. But because of the barriers in the environment, they cannot fully realize themselves. A study has been carried out showing the problems of young people with disabilities that need to be addressed immediately. Problems such as access to health services and medicines, employment problems, lack of equipment and lack of barrier-free environment, education and information accessibility have been identified. Particular attention is paid to the issue of accessibility as one of the factors preventing young people with disabilities from interacting actively with the environment. The longitudinal nature of the study allowed us to analyze what has changed in solving the problems of this social group. The results of the study showed that in St. Petersburg and other cities, much more attention to this category of people began to be paid, but often problem-solving is still point-by-point rather than complex.

Acoustics Apps: Interactive simulations for digital teaching and learning of acoustics.

This paper presents the Acoustics Apps, an e-learning platform that offers an interactive and playful environment for teaching and learning the principles of acoustics and vibration. The Acoustics Apps address the increasing demand for digitized teaching methods, which might be suitable for home schooling or as a complement to physical experiments by adding interactive simulation. The apps combine learning by experimenting, observing, and exploring using state-of-the-art scientific methods and numerical simulations. The ability to visualize and control acoustic phenomena facilitates understanding of the relevant physical principles. The apps are designed to be used intuitively and can be tailored to suit the existing knowledge of the user. As such, a wide range of users can benefit from this learning aid. It has been developed to allow barrier-free access to modern educational tools, requiring only a device with a browser and Internet access. The necessary computing power is provided by an external server using the COMSOL ServerTM technology. The Acoustics Apps are freely available for academic and teaching purposes at apps.vib.mw.tum.de.