Simon HarperView profile
Professor
Simon Harper is a Professor of Human Computer Systems at the University of Manchester, leading the Web Ergonomics Lab. His research focuses on web accessibility, human-computer interaction, and healthcare technology, with a particular emphasis on disabilities like visual impairment. He has pioneered initiatives such as the Web4All conference series and serves on steering committees for major conferences like ACM HT and ASSETS. Harper has secured over £1.45M in grants since 2007 and holds an h-index of 20. His work spans medical technology innovations (e.g., HYPO-CHEAT hypoglycemia reduction system), accessibility evaluation methods (OPTIMAL-EM tool), and environmental monitoring via citizen science. He has received prestigious awards including the ACM Doug Engelbart Prize (2000) and Best Paper awards at W4A. Harper's academic contributions include over 140 publications, with key areas in diabetes management systems, Parkinson’s disease monitoring via smartphone data, and web accessibility evaluation methodologies. His teaching integrates cutting-edge research into professional computing education, emphasizing real-world industry practices. He is actively involved in standards bodies like the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative and serves on editorial boards for journals such as ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing. Research Groups: Information Management, Data Science Institute, Web Ergonomics Lab Professional Roles: Chair of ACM SIG Hypertext, RCUK EPSRC Inclusion Cluster Expert Lab Focus: Developing computational models for human behavior in digital environments









