The Effects of technological development with regard to the disabled

In today's world fast improving technology effects our daily lives various ways. Especially communication and information technologies have improved with great speed and have caused differences that effect architecture as well. Due to these the disabled as a group of users have changed, too. In the first part of the research the subject of the thesis and its aim have been explained. The scope of the research and the method followed have been stated. In the second part the concept of disabled has been examined and tried to be defined. For this purpose identifications made by various organizations and people have been studied and classified according to their approaches to the disabled. The classifications of the disabled that in themselves have different handicaps and needs have been examined. In the third part of the thesis the tools that are used by the disabled, their aim, usage, and quality have been searched. These tools have been tried to classified in two groups through a general view. In the fourth part of the research the place of the disabled in the politics of different countries and its influence on the space arrangement have been searced. The obligations in architecture and the services provided by different countries to their disabled citizens have been studied. Design concepts for the disabled have been defined and their approaches have been examined according to their similarities and differences. In the fifth part titled as "The Expectations of the Disabled From the Space", partly raised by the developments in technology, the possibilities provided by the technological innovations, and solutions produced as a result have been examined. Plans designed according to the disabled groups and the ways the needs are removed have been searched. In the sixth part architectural examples designed for the disabled from both our country and other countries have been studied. In this section both buildings exclusively in the service of the disabled and examples making it accesible for the disabled in the public areas have been examined. Spaces of different types have been picked and their means of removing the disabled people's needs have been searched. In the last part an evaluation of the research have been made and how the disabled influence the architectural practices and the possible innovations that may be brought by the technological developments have been questioned. Keywords: Disabled, Information Technology, assistive technology, universal design, accessible design.