Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. It is an interdisciplinary field, relating to computer science, psychology, cognitive science, human factors (ergonomics), design, sociology, library and information science, artificial intelligence, and other fields. Interaction between users and computers occurs at the user interface, which includes both hardware (i.e. input and output devices) and software (e.g. determining which, and how, information is presented to the user on a screen).

As a research and professional field, HCI has for many years explored access to ICT for disabled users but has only recently began to turn its attention to community informatics and the broader digital-divide as an area to which HCI can contribute. This community examines the user interface and broad questions of interaction design for community informatics and the digital divide.