Virtual assistants and other forms of conversational user interface present opportunities to make interacting with computers and the world around us more accessible. Researchers, advocates, and disabled people have shown that technologies from Alexa to ChatGPT offer real potential to improve everyday living, communication and study.

At the same time, there is limited understanding to date of how to design these systems to be accessible and usable by diverse audiences. When compared to the recognised guidelines and strategies for creating websites or mobile apps, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, we are at an early stage in development.

Questions in this space include:

• What makes dialogue a valuable way of engaging with technology and the world?
• When, and for whom, is a conversation with a computer more useful or accessible than other approaches?
• Should the focus of design be on providing advice to the student, directly assisting them through the system, or something else?
• What qualities make these systems more accessible, and where do accessibility issues arise?