Designing for Dignity

Inclusive, Accessible, and Respectful Futures in HCI

India HCI 2026, the 17th Indian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, is the country's premier annual gathering for HCI research, design, and industry practice, organized under HCIPAI in cooperation with ACM SIGCHI. Hosting it at the Department of Design, IIT Hyderabad, brings together academic researchers, industry practitioners, students, and policymakers working at the intersection of technology and human experience.

This year's theme, "Designing for Dignity: Inclusive, Accessible, and Respectful Futures in HCI," addresses a scientifically and socially urgent question: how interactive systems can be designed to uphold human agency, equity, and dignity as AI and digital technologies become more pervasive. The conference's sub-themes: inclusive and accessible interaction, HCI in the Global South, emerging technologies and AI, participatory and co-design practices, cross-cultural design, localisation, and decolonising design practice, reflect research priorities central to designing technology for underserved and linguistically/culturally diverse populations.