CATEA is a multidisciplinary engineering and design research center dedicated to enhancing the health, activity, and participation of people with functional limitations through the application of assistive and universally designed technologies in real-world environments, products, and devices.

The Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access is affiliated with the Georgia Tech College of Design.  It’s flagship research currently focusses on helping labs find barriers to for people with and without learning challenges.

Digital aids (assistive technologies) are hardware and software that can be used to help students with sensory or motor impairments, or those with specific characteristics, obtain and process information, or even communicate.

These assistive technologies help to compensate for the function that is impaired (eg sight, hearing, fine motor skills) and with challenges related to anxiety and learning. They allow their users to participate in teaching; this is why their use, including during examinations, may be subject to legal provisions.

Assistive technologies can intervene in the following areas:

• Access to information and information processing
• Communication
• Control of devices, including computers
• Support for daily activities, especially with reduced mobility
• Specific technologies intended to promote learning, including educational software.