Article on accessible tourism platform ElderWander published in top-tier scientific journal

The scientific article “ElderWander: an accessible digital tourism platform for older adults” was recently published in the international journal "Information Technology & Tourism". This journal is classified in Quartile 1 (Q1), ranking in the top 9% in Information Systems (Computer Science) and in the top 10% in Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, according to the main impact indexes, which highlights the scientific relevance of the publication at an international level.

 

The article results from the joint work of José Coelho, Diogo Lima, and Pedro Moita, professors and researchers at ESHTE, in collaboration with the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL). The research presents the ElderWander platform, designed in the context of a master's thesis at FCUL, under the supervision of Professor José Coelho, and represents a structured basis for the future evolution of the project towards a larger-scale technological solution.

 

ElderWander is a digital platform focused on accessibility for older users in planning tourist itineraries. With a location-based interface and a question-and-answer interaction model, the platform allows the identification of tourist attractions that meet physical accessibility criteria. The validation phase involved usability and accessibility tests with target users, the results of which demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model and its alignment with the principles of inclusive design.

 

This contribution is part of the intersection between accessible tourism, human-computer interaction and applied information systems and highlights ESHTE's ability to generate applied research with potential for technology transfer and social impact.

 

The academic community and professionals in the field are invited to consult this work, available in open access HERE, whose multidisciplinary approach and orientation towards inclusion position it as an emerging reference in research on accessible digital tourism.