Access For All » Projects (LLL)

ATLEC (Assistive Technology Learning Through A Unified Curriculum)

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:02:21 +0000

The EC funded ATLEC (Assistive Technology Learning Through A Unified Curriculum – 518229-LLP-1-2011-1-UK-LEONARDO-LMP) project organises its kick-off meeting on 16-17/01/2012 in Nottingham, UK.

Studies throughout Europe under ACCESSIBLE and AEGIS (FP7 projects), and KA3 project ImPaCT highlighted in their pan-European surveys with over 1000 end-users and AT (Assistive Technologies) specialists that training is the core barrier towards using AT by end-users. This lack of training is subsequently also recognised as main barrier to assume a daily job in a regular working environment.

Although there are European initiatives such as EASTIN (www.eastin.info), which already gather (partial) ISO structured databases on AT, the actual ICT AT training is lacking, or not meeting the needs of the end-users. Although there are a number of initiatives on AT across the EU such as ATVET (UK), Blind people in Qualification (Austria), IMPACT, Keeping Pace with Assistive Technology (IT), they mainly address training of the trainers and professionals working with PwDs, and not the actual beneficiaries (people with disabilities) which remain largely unaware of the ICT AT that is there for them. ATLEC is to fill this gap and will focus on training the learners in specific skills particularly tailored according to their individual and employability needs, while also creating the job profile of ICT AT trainer.

The innovation of this project lies with the user centred design approach as well as the individual tailoring of the ATLEC curriculum and training materials to the learners’ needs, combined with the implementation of mobile learning objects to support the training, as well as applying mentoring as an additional supportive aspect of the ATLEC training services. The focus is on the person with disability (his/her needs and abilities as a learner), as well as the trainer.

Also the pedagogical methodologies will be innovative, using blended learning (F2F, online and mobile), resulting in accessible WCAG2.0 compliant learning/training objects, which are thus exchangeable with other learning initiatives. All ATLEC learning objects, training material and mobile applications will also be offered through the platform the ViPi project (KA3-ICT, 511792-LLP-1-2010-1-GR-KA3-KA3NW) aims to launch in 2012, and which is coordinated by PhoenixKM.

Training the end-users in appropriate usage of ICT-based AT means also teaching them new skills, digital competencies, learning to learn skills (key competencies), empowering them with a greater confidence, adaptability and a more positive attitude towards risk taking and access to an otherwise still to a large degree inaccessible physical, technological and attitudinal employment environment.

Apart from providing them the knowledge about AT ICT usage, and what is most appropriate for their specific disability, a mentoring scheme will be set up and ran in workplaces in Belgium and Greece, directly linking the knowledge and skills acquired with the practice, while also facing the reality in the working environment.

Last but not least the job profile of ICT AT trainer and the workplace mentoring scheme qualifying people with disabilities from unemployed, unqualified into qualified trainers will greatly increase their self-esteem, confidence and provide them with easier access to the regular labour market, as well as create new employment opportunities for the People with Disabilities communities. In the long term, this will lessen the social and economic burden.

Launch of ViPi, a Virtual portal for ImpaiRed Groups Interaction

admin — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:01:35 +0000

Logo of ViPi project

PhoenixKM (Belgium) coordinates the ViPi project that aims to provide a “one-stop-shop” interactive portal & learning environment, targeted towards trainers and trainees, with particular attention towards people with disabilities. The project partnership brings together organizations and companies from Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, UK and Lithuania.
BELGIUM, BRUSSELS – 26 January 2011 – An estimated 45 million people in Europe have a long-standing health problem or disability (LSHPD), being 16% of men and women aged 16-64 in the EU as a whole (2002 EU Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the 2004 EU Statistics on Incomes and Living Conditions).
33% of the people with LSHPD are not restricted in the kind or amount of work they could do or their mobility to and from work. Figures vary largely across EU members (10-50%).
This difference is directly linked to the level of prosperity and the assistance available. Of those that are considerably restricted in their ability to work, 28% were in employment, while for those that are not restricted in their ability to work, this is estimated at 68%.
Today the fast development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provides alternative and creative solutions for the employment of people with disabilities. Recent studies conducted by various projects such as ACCESSIBLE and AEGIS have highlighted that people with disabilities (PwD) can benefit enormously from digital competences which are core life and employability skills (see Lisbon Objectives). However, same and other studies revealed also that the main barrier is the lack of specific training support or material. In addition to that, a number of other skills such as literacy and numeracy skills equally form a potential barrier towards employment of PwD.
ViPi project envisages fulfilling the gap of accessible and flexible training, designed to meet the specific needs of people with disabilities, as well as the trainers themselves.
ViPi project will develop an interactive online platform where people with disabilities can access a wide variety of ICT training courses and serious games for acquiring ICT skills, while trainers will be able to upload and download specific learning objects, using a semantically enriched environment to improve the searchability, thus increasing the relevance of the results obtained.
ViPi platform will comprise a virtual collaborative learning environment for people with disabilities and their trainers to interact, providing a vast repository of learning objects (LOs) that focus on basic ICT literacy. This will allow people with disabilities to grasp these core skills and become able to enter or sustain their employment in the regular labour market. The platform will be enriched with intuitive and accessible mobile and Internet/PC based educational/serious games. Additionally, also a mobile Android based social application linked with ViPi platform will be deployed.
Furthermore, ViPi will also develop a customized and localized curriculum on ICT skills and training, with various additional training materials (different formats), and a trainer handbook. All project outcomes will initially be available in Dutch, English, Greek and Lithuanian languages.
The Project partnership consists of Steficon (Greece), Hypertech (Greece), Hiteco (Lithuania), Nottingham Trent University (the UK), and EuroCy Innovations Ltd. (Cyprus), while the Project Coordinator is PhoenixKM (Belgium). More information can be found on www.ViPi-project.eu and twitter.com/ViPi_project.
The ViPi KA3 LLL project has been partially funded under the Lifelong Learning program, subprogramme KA3 ICT.

ViPi– Virtual portal for ImpaiRed Groups Interaction

admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:29:28 +0000

On 1st of January 2011, the project ViPi (Virtual portal for ImpaiRed Groups Interaction) was launched.
ViPi aims to provide a “one-stop-shop” interactive portal & learning environment that delivers:

a comprehensive multilingual portal, with;
an embedded multilingual social community (for VET centres, PwD, ICT training centres, etc.), using the latest social media, facilitating interactive information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration, with access to all;
an accessible (WCAG 2.0) multilingual Web 2.0 enabled online ICT for learning environment to PwD, their trainers, with an interactive and vast repository of interoperable SCORM compliant learning objects (LOs) that focus on basic ICT literacy to allow PwD to grasp this core skill in order to be able to enter or sustain their employment in the regular labour market, enriched with intuitive mobile Java and Flash Lite based mobile and internet/PC based educational/serious games;
The final outcome will be an entire set of applications and services that will be streamlined via a blended educational and pedagogical framework, making full usage of the interaction possibilities offered by web 2.0, and localised, tested, piloted and subsequently fine-tuned with GR, BE, LT, UK and CY end-user communities.

The platform will equally act as a “one-stop-shop” for trainer organizations to find and contribute LOs that they can integrate in existing learning environments and practices. Using Open Source Software, ViPi platform extensions can be easily integrated.
ViPi platform will thus be able to support a fully accessible and Open Source based pan-European learning network and community, bringing together key stakeholders and gatekeepers (VET, target groups, umbrella organizations), while offering a vast set of reusable (PC and Mobile) LOs, supported by Web 2.0 social services.

The ViPi KA3 LLL project (511792-LLP-1-2010-1-GR-KA3-KA3NW) has been partially funded under the Lifelong Learning program, subprogramme KA3 ICT.

Highlighting the work for the Game on Extra Time project (GOET)

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:05:52 +0000

GOET’s concrete aims and objectives are to support the acquisition and use of knowledge skills and qualifications to facilitate Basic Skills, Personal Development and Employment Preparation.

The GOET Project has been funded with support from the European Commission and will support people with learning disabilities in getting and keeping a job. It aims to help people learn, via games-based learning, to live more independently and to help them in their working day. The project also wants to improve how subjects are taught by making them more interesting and enjoyable. It also supports an accessible approach to vocational skills training, and will be adapting and developing a range of games for computers and mobile telephones that are interactive, engaging and fun.

Game on Extra Time has been delivered by the Social Enterprise Greenhat Interactive and funded by the European Commission. The games were designed and developed by Nottingham Trent University, providing a range of talented multimedia developers.

The games are designed across multiple online formats and provide a personalised memory timeline, giving prompts throughout the day to remind the client of important things to do to prepare for leaving the house and throughout the working day.

RECALL: Location Based Services – Reconnecting Excluded Communities and Lifelong Learning

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:38:29 +0000

RECALL logo

RECALL (Location Based Services – Reconnecting Excluded Communities and Lifelong Learning) KA3 project has been developed to meet a need identified from years of research in working with user groups of people with learning disabilities and their teachers/trainers. This research has shown that on leaving compulsory education, people with learning disabilities, who have previously been provided with transport to allow them to access community activity, suddenly become excluded from lifelong learning and community activity because of their lack of independent travel skills.
Three modes of RECALL will be implemented and tested which allows our target audience to plan, rehearse and then actually reconnect with learning, employment and other community opportunities. This approach combines location based services with games based learning approaches. The Plan mode promotes User Created Content and allows RECALL to be personalised to users’ needs. The Challenge mode uses games based learning approaches and context awareness to engage users in rehearsing, reflecting on and reinforcing the ways in which they have planned their reconnection with these opportunities. The Usage mode also offers self directed learning opportunities by specifying and personalising the key community and road safety messages that they require to be triggered by location. RECALL is an application developed for the Android Operating System and will be specified in English, Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian.
In the UK and Greece RECALL will work with end user groups of people with learning disabilities (NTU, GHI) and with Deaf people (BID). In Romania it will work with people with physical disabilities and sensory impairments and in Bulgaria RECALL will involve mainly people with mobility impairments. Testing and piloting of the products will measure performance against agreed indicators to ensure that we meet the objectives of increasing independence and inclusion for the target groups and of reconnecting excluded learners back to their communities and lifelong learning opportunities.
More info on the project website.

Joint Programme on Accessible Web Design

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:10:11 +0000

The overall aim of the completed LLP project ‘web_access’ is the development of a distance learning programme with regard to national diversity at a European level in the field of accessible web design (AWD). It summed up to a Europe-wide unique academic training programme and was designed in an accessible way to enable access by as many people as possible, including people with disabilities.
Evidence has shown that there is a growing need for the creation and maintenance of websites at European and national level which are truly accessible and in conformance with agreed and emerging international standards. This issue also needs to be addressed through more formal education and training. The target groups (web designers, students/graduates in computer sciences and related fields of study, and those who have achieved equivalent knowledge and skills, especially people with disabilities) should be trained in both the requirements for and the techniques to achieve fully accessible websites.
More information on the project website.

Survey on the use of Person Centred Technology

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:22:54 +0000

The Project ImPaCT in Europe – Improving Person Centred Technology in Europe, a networking project in the field of ICT co-financed by the European Commission’s Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme, is conducting a survey to assess the use of Person Centred Technology across Europe. The data gathered will be used by the partnership to map the current situation and to to evaluate and promote the benefits of PCT for people with disabilities. The survey is brief and user friendly and is available in English, Portuguese, Finnish, French and Dutch. People with disabilities, service providers, policy makers at all levels, researchers and manufacturers of PCT who are interested in the work carried out by the partnership are invited to contribute.

Good practise database to favour labour inclusion of people with disabilities

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:45:10 +0000

Within the framework of the project “Learning Lab for Integration” financed under the Lifelong learning Grundvig programme, a database has been created to provide good practice examples on how people with disabilities can be helped to return to the labour market, integrate society, learn and acquire new skills.

You are invited to add your ideas, projects or organisation and so promote them to professionals all over Europe for free. Click here for direct access to the database.

Enhanced Code of Practice for Mentoring available

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:34:31 +0000

You can now download the enhanced Code of Practice (CoP) for Mentoring in English, Bulgarian, Dutch and Turkish. This CoP (the result of the Validating Mentoring 2 project) is mainly addressed to managers and developers of mentoring programmes. It will help them to critically review their systems and how they work, while also helping them to improve their quality and/or gain external recognition. It will equally be very useful to those planning new mentoring programmes, through the advice about good practice that it provides and by the links it offers to other resources. But such first-time developers are not its main target audience. The CoP is also designed for use by the staff of organisations that provide mentoring programmes. Indeed, an important principle of our approach is that as many of the staff team as possible will participate in the self-assessment process. By contributing to the process staff will bring their own knowledge and expertise and learn from their colleagues while helping to improve their own practice and the performance of the programme overall. This CoP does not address all types of programmes that sometimes are called ‘mentoring’ (see Section 4 for guidance about the nature of ‘mentoring’). It has been developed initially to meet the needs of NGO’s, small training organisations, and others sharing their approach. The term mentoring is often used, for example, to cover aspects of professional training and coaching, where formal reporting requirements may constrain freedom of choice and confidentiality. Though the CoP may have limited applicability to mentoring programmes of this kind, it should still provide some useful guidance and valuable stimulus for self-reflection. The crucial first step, as for all mentoring programmes, is to carefully consider and define the particular goals of the programme and to understand the particular requirements that such goals impose.
Downloads are available at the newspage of the project website.

Project ImPaCT in Europe Improving Person Centred Technology in Europe – Questionnaire to assess the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Electronic Assistive Technology (EAT)

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:21:11 +0000

In order to assess the use of Person Centred Technology (PCT) which includes all ICT and EAT devices, the ImPaCT project launched an online survey (http://easpd.hft.org.uk/). The gathered information will then be used by the ImPaCT in Europe project team to evaluate and promote the benefits of PCT for people with disabilities.

Completing the questionnaire should not take too long, and your inputs will be invaluable!
In case of questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Miriana Giraldi.

ENEVA – ENhance Efficacy through Valorisation

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:39:24 +0000

The project ENEVA proposes a thematic action in the field of LLL initiatives toward persons with disabilities. It provides a valorisation of the results achieved in the framework of EU LLL programmes (Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates) by means of a strategy aimed to contact most important stakeholders involved in the integration processes at regional/national and European level. This strategy consists in promoting the results about the specific issue organising a kind of “logical framework” to help researchers as well as decision makers to analyse and compare solutions, experiences, methods and proposals.

Basically this work will be accessible via a devoted portal, conceived as a support service linked to the Commission databases: the aim is to gather well documented results (original documents, final reports..) in order to let them explored and exploited by the stakeholders. The stakeholders (main target group of this project) are intended in a largest meaning of this term: cause the innovation presented by each project would influence in a wide sense the social relationships around the person with disability, his/her expectations, the quality of the services and all the type of “barriers” each person is facing to participate to the society.
More information can be found on the project website.

GOET project

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:49:33 +0000

GOET logo

The GOET (Game On Extra Time) Project has been funded with support from the European Commission and will support people with learning disabilities in getting and keeping a job. It aims to help people learn, via games-based learning, to live more independently and to help them in their working day.
The project also wants to improve how subjects are taught by making them more interesting and enjoyable. It also supports an accessible approach to vocational skills training, and will be adapting and developing a range of games for computers and mobile telephones that are interactive, engaging and fun.
More information can be found on the project website.

Check and Go

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:34:21 +0000

The aim of the Check and go project is to enhance access to workplaces for people with disabilities. With the tools developed in the project, people with disabilities will find it easier to apply for a trainee post or a job in a company. By constructing an individual profile of accessibility they will be able to say quickly and easily what barriers they face and what they need in order to do their job efficiently. In addition, companies that receive applications with this profile of accessibility can easily determine if the applicant will fit into the company and people with disabilities will be able to find a suitable job quickly and easily.

With the Check and go website, people with disabilities, companies, staff managers, trainers, instructors and job coaches can get a three-part product range to learn how they can include or integrate people with disabilities at a workplace more efficiently. These products are:
the Training tool, the Check and go tool and the Advice tool.

More information can be found on the project website.

GOAL NET – Game On Accessible Learning Programme

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:51:41 +0000

The project will support participants in training and further training activities, in the acquisition and the use of knowledge, skills and qualifications to facilitate personal development, employability and participation in the European Labour Market.

In addition, GOAL aims to support improvements in quality and innovation in vocational education, training systems, institutions and practices as well as enhance the attractiveness of vocational education and training and mobility for employers and individuals and to facilitate the mobility of working trainees.

More information can be found on the project website.

APT – Access to professional training for disabled people

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:45:23 +0000

The aim of this project has been to provide access to professional training, and improve disabled peoples’ opportunities for professional employment. It was aimed to be reached by developing a preparation for social work course delivered through a blended training and mentoring support programme, and to test this across three European countries with the intention of identifying cross-national applications for such a programme. It has developed a model of mentoring that involves recruiting disabled people as mentors.

The project has built networks in the sector in each partner country which bring together providers of training, users of training (both employers and potential employees), sector advisory and accreditation bodies, through which the programme can be more widely applied. Furthermore, partnership arrangements were developed with institutions in other European countries to further develop the trans-national element of the project.

The project final results are a curriculum designed to be an ‘inclusive’ preparation for professional social work training. The curriculum is a modular, using a blended learning approach, and designed to be studied prior to any social work/social care training. It can therefore be incorporated into the Widening Participation and recruitment strategy of training providers without making any significant changes to their usual mode of operation. Furthermore, it could be used by associate, or feeder, colleges of social work training providers in support of mainstream teaching, such as the network of colleges working with De Montfort University.

More information can be found on project website

e-ACCESS II – Supporting Vocational Education and Training for Disadvantaged User Communities

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:39:54 +0000

The e-Access II Project provides the technical infrastructure (tools and services) and the training for developing and sharing of Accessible e-Training Resources and e-Training Courses that can be reusable between different e-Training Platforms and Programmes.

The main outcomes of the e-Access II project will be:
(a) the transfer of know-how across Europe on producing accessible e-Training Resources and Courses and providing e-Training services to People with Disabilities,
(b) the validation of the e-Access key results/outcomes in different European Settings and
(c) the transfer of innovative e-Training practices across Europe.

More information can be found on the project website.

EPDP – An Educational Platform for Physically Disabled People in Designing / Manufacturing of Supporting Equipment

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:34:55 +0000

The main objective of the project is to establish an educational platform which provides theoretical and practical training for physically disabled people in designing/manufacturing/testing/selecting/repairing of supporting equipment such as wheelchair, prosthesis, elevators, etc.

More information can be found on the project website.

ESTEEM – Empowerment through study training enabling Education and Mentoring

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:11:57 +0000

The idea of ESTEEM project is to return learners, people from minority ethnic groups, unemployed people and others who experience social and economic disadvantage. These people are often marginalised in their access to training and employment. And there is usually a mismatch between their needs and requirements and the provision of education and training for employment.

In this respect Lifelong learning provides opportunities for more people to obtain the skills and qualifications they need to enter the labour market. The key to successful engagement with this process is the ability to get into employment. However, certain groups are less able to do this, because of economic disadvantage, structural barriers to their participation, limited educational experience, ethnocentric attitudes and cultural insensitivity. The ESTEEM project is aimed at empowering these groups by helping them take more control of the development of their learning.

more information can be found on the project website.

QATRAIN2 – Quality Assurance and Accessible Training 2

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:05:17 +0000

QATRAIN 2 aims to enable students with disabilities to participate more fully in Vocational Education and Training (VET) at post 16 level. The project will produce a web resource that will assist teachers/trainers and quality assurance staff to develop a more inclusive approach to the design of teaching, learning and assessment strategies. In turn, this will enable students with disabilities to participate more fully in Vocational Education and Training.

For the purposes of the project, Vocational Education and Training (VET) is any form of initial education, training or apprenticeship which contributes to the achievement of a vocational qualification, recognised by the competent authorities in each partner country, and that leads to employability. VET students are those who have completed compulsory education and are under 25 years old.

The web resource will be undergoing a period of testing and review in the coming months and will go live in May 2009.

More information can be found on the project website.

ETTAD – Enabling teachers and trainers to improve the accessibility of adult education

admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:03:08 +0000

The main aim of the ETTAD project is to Enable Teachers and Trainers to improve the accessibility of Adult Education for people with disabilities.

The project will produce a web-based resource for teachers and trainers that will identify potential challenges that disabled learners might experience in engaging with their courses. The resource will also offer strategies and recommendations for adjustments to practice. Such strategies/more inclusive practices that will enable disabled learners to overcome these challenges and this will allow them to participate more fully in adult education.

For the purposes of the project, adult education is defined as non-vocational learning which may lead to enhanced employability but focuses on learning for personal, civic and social purposes. Adults are those aged 25 and over who have completed/left initial education and training.

The web resource will be undergoing a period of testing and review in the coming months and will go live in May 2009.

This project (134653-LLP-1-2007-UK-GRUNDTVIG-GMP) has been partially funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

More information can be found on the project website.