It is widely recognised that challenges are experienced around transition points, such as joining a new institution or course of study, moving between modules or classes, and gaining and starting employment.

While there may be reasons to restrict the scope of an assistant to a narrower view of the student journey, or provide it with information specific to a context, learning is ideally more continuous, occurring throughout our lives, and across varied contexts.

Taking these points into consideration, virtual assistants can provide a more continuous support, and there may be scenarios where they are particularly valuable, such as learning from a free open course where support is limited, or moving into a new situation where the activities and context create new barriers or ways to use technology.

Questions to address in designing for this space include:

• Where are the most promising contexts for virtual assistants to address major challenges for disabled people in learning, personal development and employment?
• What is variable across these contexts, and how does this influence the design and adaptability of assistants?
• How can disability, barriers and technologies be usefully understood in terms of what is consistent or variable?