Exploring Lived Experience and the Role of Technology in Cycling for People Who Have a Mobility Disability

Cycling is a popular leisure activity and a sustainable mode of transportation, but various accessibility barriers thwart the inclusion of people who have a mobility disability in this activity. Our work presents their perspectives on cycling and addresses the role that technology plays in this context. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 cyclists who have a mobility disability and use diverse accessible cycles, we concentrated on their lived experience and their current and envisioned use of technology. We applied Reflexive Thematic Analysis and crafted three themes, focusing on (1) disabled people’s heterogenous approaches to accessible cycling, (2) wellbeing and social relationships emerging through accessible cycling, and (3) how technology improves accessible cycling and why it is carefully applied by disabled cyclists. Grounded in these results, we propose design goals, calling for dependability of technology, opportunities to self-manage accessibility, and preservation of the original cycling experience, and we appraise the grand challenges of CyclingHCI in the context of accessibility.