Dubai Expo Spotlights Tech Easing Disability Barriers

An autonomous wheelchair is undergoing tests at Dubai International Airport, carrying passengers from check-in to their departure gate. It’s one of the solutions on show at the Dubai AccessAbilities Expo, which opened on Monday, October 19, 2026. The small trial points to a larger problem: daily travel still depends on whether someone feels able to ask for help.

Travel Without Waiting for Help

The wheelchair has four light detection and ranging cameras. Operators can program it to collect passengers from a lounge and take them to the plane during boarding. A manual override lets passengers travelling alone stop anywhere in the airport. Dnata is testing the equipment at concourse D in Terminal 1, while airport operators consider extending the trial to Terminal 3.

Suhail Amshan, senior manager in the office of accessibility and inclusion at Emirates, said the airline has seen more people feel comfortable discussing their accommodation needs. “Coming into the airports can feel a little overwhelming,” he said. In the past, some people may not have felt comfortable approaching Emirates staff to request accommodations that would make travel more comfortable.

That hesitation is the gap these tools aim to close. Amshan’s point is blunt: a disabled traveller shouldn’t have to brace for an awkward conversation just to get to a gate.

Training Staff for the Unexpected

Emirates earned certification as the world’s first autism-certified airline from the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards. The certification involved training more than 30,000 front line staff and cabin crew to understand autism and the special requirements of air travel. Support includes digital sensory guides, sensory products such as fidget toys, and tailored assistance.

Emirates’ travel rehearsal programmes help families get familiar with airport procedures before they fly. Since launching in 2023, the programmes have reached about 80 airports. The airline has also added business-class lounges, biometric passport scanners and check-in desks designed for wheelchair access.

“The first time that crew interact with a person with a disability, the scenario might not have been something they’ve been trained for,” Amshan said. “Everyone has a different requirement and deals with travel in different ways. There are lots of things that we are still not familiar with or are aware of. It is an ever evolving space from our perspective.”

The Wider Market and Its Gaps

The exhibition at Dubai World Trade Centre displayed technology for people with impaired mobility, sight and hearing, as well as people with intellectual disabilities. Visitors with disabilities could try the solutions. The show included AI-powered smart glasses offering real-time translation and assistance for people with visual disabilities, and electronic prosthetic limbs designed to replicate natural movement. Therapeutic riding also featured as a way to help people build confidence and skills.

The World Health Organisation estimates that people with disabilities make up about 10 to 16 per cent of any society’s population, and that around 1.3 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability, including more than 50 million in the Middle East. Global studies indicate that 3.5 billion people will need assistive technology by 2030, yet only 10 per cent currently have access to the products they need. That’s an access gap, not a product gap. The real work lies there.

The global assistive technology market for people with disabilities was projected to reach $98.7 billion by 2033, while the mobility aids market alone was expected to reach $1.1 billion by 2031. Onward Accessibility, a US digital accessibility services company, estimates that more than 50 million people with disabilities live in the Middle East.

Health Care Under Scrutiny

Dubai Health Authority presented its Sanadhum initiative at the exhibition. The regulatory and awareness project aims to strengthen healthcare facilities’ compliance with requirements for people of determination, including the Dubai Universal Design Code and health policies. It includes field inspection campaigns across all health services to check readiness and ensure ease of access and priority.

“Providing comprehensive health care goes beyond developing infrastructure and services,” said Asma Al Sharif, chief executive of DHA’s Health Regulatory Sector. “It extends to building an integrated health system that considers the needs of people of determination and ensures they can access services efficiently, with dignity and independence.”

Ghassan Suleiman, chief executive of AccessAbilities Expo, said the event had become a global platform for exchanging expertise as it entered its eighth year. “Technological developments such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and the Internet of Things have accelerated innovation across the sector,” he said. “This has helped improve the quality of life of millions of people around the world.”

Why This Matters: Disabled travellers and patients still face barriers that good intentions alone haven’t removed. The gap between the 3.5 billion people projected to need assistive technology by 2030 and the 10 per cent who can access it today shows how much work remains. The airport wheelchair and Emirates’ staff training point in a useful direction, but they reach only people who can afford them, travel through the airports where they’re tested, or use the health facilities being inspected. Whether these pilots become standard practice or remain expo projects will decide whether accessibility is a right people can count on or a service they have to hope for. Inclusion that depends on a traveller’s willingness to ask for help isn’t inclusion that works for everyone.