ATOB Call for Manuscripts

  • Submissions Accepted: April 15, 2025 – August 15, 2025
  • Projected Publication Date: Spring 2026

Volume 20 Theme: Integrating User Experiences to Promote Inclusive Design and Implementation of Assistive Technology

We are pleased to announce the call for manuscripts for Volume 20 of ATOB is now open! Volume 20 will be titled Integrating User Experiences to Promote Inclusive Design and Implementation of Assistive Technology. This volume will explore the critical role of user experience analysis in transforming the development and evolution of AT devices, applications, and services. We invite you to share successful examples of user-centered or customer driven design that involves and fully engages individuals with disabilities, including innovative methods for collecting, curating, and analysing user experiences as well as case studies that highlight the impact of inclusive co-designed AT solutions for numerous stakeholders. The authors may choose to focus on traditional AT as well as innovative technology (e.g., generative AI). Examples describing the design and implementation of both low-tech and high-tech tools are welcome.

We invite submissions to Voices from Academia, Voices from the Industry, and Voices from the Field that showcase efforts to fully understand, represent, and actively involve a diversity of perspectives in AT research, design, and use. We seek to feature research outcomes, insightful design perspectives, user perspectives and community engagement in inclusive design and implementation. Researchers, developers, vendors, practitioners, and users from around the world representing a variety of disciplines (e.g., assistive technology, augmented and alternative communication, special education, rehabilitation, human-computer interactions, engineering, etc.) are asked to emphasize inclusive design and implementation from co-creation to successful adoption. We look forward to advancing discussion and practical approaches that build upon diverse perspectives, lived experiences, customer feedback and active involvement of AT users in design and development efforts can lead to more accessible, equitable, and effective technologies entering the marketplace,

Manuscripts should be up to 30 pages (double spaced) including title page, abstract, references, tables and figures, and prepared in accordance with the ATOB Manuscript Guidelines.

Important Note: Authors who are unsure which category they should submit under, please contact the ATOB editor-in-chief with an abstract or a paper idea at atobeditor@atia.org.

ATOB Manuscript Submission Form & Author Agreement

  • 1) Please provide the details of the lead author for this manuscript submission. A full list of authors should be included in the manuscript itself and the Author Agreements. Email communications about the manuscript will be with the lead author.
  • Articles may be submitted under three categories—
    • Voices from the Field - Articles submitted under this category should come from professionals who are involved in some aspect of AT service delivery with persons having disabilities (e.g., educators, related service, and care providers) or from family members and/or AT consumers with disabilities. Submissions may include case studies, project or program descriptions, approaches to service delivery, or consumer perspective pieces. All submissions should have a clear message about lessons learned from the experience and be written with enough detail to allow generalization of results to other situations. Voices from the Field manuscripts are peer-reviewed, but do not require the same level of scientific rigor as submissions in other categories. A more informal writing style with an emphasis on rich, detailed descriptions of experiences, procedures and implications is expected. Authors of Voices from the Field manuscripts are not required to support their personal perspectives with objective data or peer-reviewed literature. However, any personal viewpoints presented as generalized statements of fact should appropriately cite supporting research. Plagiarism and unsupported extension of such personal viewpoints to make general claims are not permitted. Reviews of literature that highlight the specific personal experiences are appropriate. Authors submitting to the Voices from the Field category may request ATOB to find a Sponsor among the Editorial Board members and ATOB reviewers who would provide an opportunity to discuss and improve a manuscript draft before submission. If you are interested in finding a sponsor, please contact: atobeditor@atia.org.
    • Voices from the Industry - Articles submitted under this category should come from professionals involved in developing and marketing specific AT devices and services. Case studies, design, marketing research, or project/ program descriptions are appropriate for this category. Voices from the Industry manuscripts may present the results of the research (and thus, follow the same outline as Voices from Academia) or present project/program descriptions (and thus, follow the same outline as Voices from the Field).
    • Voices from Academia - Articles submitted under this category should come from professionals conducting research or development in an academic setting. The style of writing should adhere to guidelines generally used in scientific journals. Submissions are likely to include applied/ clinical research, case studies, and project/ program descriptions. Sample outline for the Voices from Academia article is available in the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for Authors.
  • ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY OUTCOMES AND BENEFITS - AUTHOR AGREEMENT
    Author Confirmation
    Please read each bullet below thoroughly, and complete the required questions regarding HIPAA compliance, IRB compliance (or equivalent), and disclosure of financial and non-financial relationships. By completing and submitting this form you are agreeing to the terms listed for ATOB authors.
    • I grant permission to ATIA to publish and to place on the Web my manuscript and related publication materials. I authorize ATIA to publish and distribute the above-described manuscript as highlights or in total on the ATIA Web site and in its publications. By giving my authorization, it is understood that other Web sites are and will be permitted to have links to the ATIA Web site, and that ATIA may cause the materials on the Web site to be accessed freely by the public at large. It is agreed that ATIA will not be held responsible for royalties or for infringement either (i) for use by ATIA and distribution of the manuscript as described above, or (ii) for any use or misuse of any of the manuscript by any person who obtains the materials (directly or indirectly) as a result of ATIA’s permitted use or distribution of the materials.
    • I attest that I am the author/owner and I am authorized to use the content included in the manuscript, and that ATIA is not liable for any content presented or misused on my part.
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    Accepted file types: doc, jpeg, png, docx, Max. file size: 50 MB.
      Please upload your draft manuscript and cover letter here. You may upload more than one file. It is important to upload your file in WORD and not as a PDF for accessibility review. Please note that the upload protocol only accepts WORD documents with .doc extension. Please save your .docx files with .doc compatibility. For greater accessibility during the review and production phases, please upload any tables or charts as separate files and describe the data represented in the tables. (Maximum File Size is 128 MB. )
    • To comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), we ask that all authors ensure the privacy of their patients/clients by refraining from using names, photographs, or other patient/client identifiers in manuscripts without the patient’s/client’s knowledge and written authorization. I am in compliance with these policies:
    • To ensure that appropriate protections are afforded to participants in research studies, ATOB requires a copy of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (or equivalent) for all manuscripts describing studies that are subjected to such requirements. Please indicate if IRB approval (or equivalent) was needed for the work described in the manuscript.
    • Conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, have the potential to undermine the credibility of communications between stakeholders in all fields of study. In order to ensure that potential conflicts of interest are transparent to ATOB’s readership, all corresponding authors must respond to the following questions on behalf of all authors named on the relevant manuscript. Information will be included in the ATOB journal, such that it is available to all readers.
    • Do you or your co-authors have relevant financial relationships to disclose?
    • Financial Disclosure Form Information. NOTE: Corresponding author should complete the disclosure below for each co-author to whom it may apply.

    • Author Information (1)

    • Author Information (2)

    • Author Information (3)

    • Author Information (4)

    • Relevant Non-Financial Relationship

    • Author Information (1)

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    • Author Information (4)

    • SIGNATURE SECTION

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