1. The Journey of Making Information for Learning Accessible for All Marcella Turner-Cmuchal, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education Isabelle Turmaine, Director, Information Projects and Services, International Association of Universities (IAU)

2. The Agency in brief An independent organisation that acts as a platform for collaboration for the ministries of education in member countries. The 29 Agency member countries’ shared ultimate vision for inclusive education systems:shared ultimate vision “that all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and peers.” This vision is the focal point of all Agency work.

3. Some questions along the way… ● Why make information accessible? ● What was ICT4IAL all about? ● What are the Guidelines and who can use them? ● Who tried out the Guidelines and how did it work? ● Where do we go from here?

4. Why is accessibility of information important? ● All partners are international level information providers for education and/or ICT who have each faced and considered the issue of accessibility in differing ways within our work. ● We believe the ability to access relevant information for and about education is a crucial prerequisite for learning. When learners have restricted access to information they have restricted access to learning opportunities. ● We believe enabling access is our obligation and work towards becoming models of accessibility.

5. Why is accessibility of information important? All educational organisations have a duty to make their information accessible for everyone. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a key driving force for change in the area. The Convention emphasises: ● the obligation to ‘provide accessible information to persons with disabilities’ (Art.4); ● the need for ‘the design, development, production and distribution of accessible ICT’ (Art.9); ● the right to education ‘without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity’ for persons with disabilities (Art.24).

6. What is accessible information? ● Accessible information is understood as information provided in formats that allow every user and learner to access content ‘on an equal basis with others’ (UNCRPD).UNCRPD ● Accessible information is ideally information that: – allows all users and learners to easily orientate themselves within the content; and – can be effectively perceived and understood by different perception channels, such as using eyes and/or ears and/or fingers.

7. Key arguments for providing accessible information Access to information is a human right Providing accessible information has the potential to create synergies, which may equally benefit people with disabilities and special needs, the ageing population as well as all members of society.

8. ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning Network of partners supported under the Lifelong Learning Transversal Programme, Key Activity 3: Information and Communication Technologies: 1. European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education 2. European Schoolnet 3. International Association of Universities 4. DAISY 5. Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs 6. UNESCO

9. The ICT4IAL Journey Developing and Trialling of Practical Guidelines Reflection and Evaluation upon Implementation Dissemination and Exploitation of Results

10. Milestones on the ICT4IAL Journey Outcomes for Authors/Practitioners/Individuals: Guidelines for the Implementation of Information Accessibility in LearningGuidelines for the Implementation of Information Accessibility in Learning – Available in 27 languages (EU languages, Arabic, Chinese and Russian) Outcomes for Organisations: Making your Organisation’s Information Accessible for AllMaking your Organisation’s Information Accessible for All – Recommendations for organisations on steps to providing more accessible information – Includes a self-audit tool – Available in 24 languages

11. What are the Guidelines for Accessible Information? ● an open educational resource (OER) ● to support the creation of accessible information in general and for learning in particular ● Devised for accessible information for learning, but universal in its use ● summarise and link to existing and useful resources which can be helpful for non-ICT experts ● is available as text document, PDF HTML ● www.ict4ial.eu www.ict4ial.eu

12. How to use the Guidelines? The Guidelines provide: ● recommendations on how different types of information can be made accessible ● a list of resources available to support this process categorised into: – ‘easy’: actions which can be completed with a general knowledge of common software programmes; – ‘advanced’: actions which can be completed with an in-depth knowledge of common software programmes; and – ‘professional’ levels: actions which can be completed with a more professional knowledge of software and general knowledge of programming.

13. The IAU in brief ● Building a worldwide higher education community ● Created in 1950, IAU is the largest global university association (NGO) ● Based at UNESCO, IAU acts as an independent voice for higher education ● IAU brings together Members from 120 countries ● Besides Institutional Members, IAU also has Organizational Members, Affiliates and Associates

14. Higher education in CRPD ● 5. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities. ● 4. In order to help ensure the realization of this right, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to employ teachers, including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified in sign language and/or Braille, and to train professionals and staff who work at all levels of education.

15. UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 17 goals. Goal 4 on Education: By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education for the vulnerable, including people with disabilities.

16. IAU Policy Statement Equitable Access, Success and Quality in Higher Education ● Select key principle: Access to higher learning should be made possible to all regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, economic or social class, age, language, religion, location or [dis]abilities.

17. Inclusion at higher education level Universities are doing a lot: Counselling services; Academic support; Social activities; Help in transition to active life; High-level position in charge of PWD; Preparation of staff and faculty; One of the missions of open universities; Research and study programmes.

18. Challenges for higher education Diversity is not yet met when speaking of success at HE and representativity in student, staff, and academic populations. Awareness raising and training of the higher education community and beyond (schools, parents, labour market) is still needed. Rapid changes in assistive technology make improvements difficult to harness. More students with disabilities are reaching HE level and universities are not prepared for this.

19. Challenges for higher education ● Support to student with disabilities is mainly offered on an individual basis and hence very costly (and public support is receding, when and where available). ● Yet…

20. Affordability = Accessibility

21. Guidelines for Accessible Information ● Because of ICT, every HE constituencies: academics, students, librarians, administrative staff are potentially producers of information for leraning. ● With the advent of knowledge societies, everyone must have access to all content for learning. ● Adaptation is very costly and due to copyright issues often cannot be reused. ● The Guidelines by helping the provision of all content in a more accessible way from inception makes the support to students and academics with disabilities more equitable and affordable.

22. Errare humanum est errare humanum est Errare humanum est Can you read/ understand this?

23. Errare humanum est Latin expression that is translated as: ‘to err is human’ THAT’S BETTER!

24. Is this image meaningful to you (if you can see it)?

25. Official picture of IAU Board Members at IAU 2015 Board Meeting in Iquitos, Peru (+ alternate text).

26. What’s next at IAU? ● The Guidelines are tabled for approval by the Association’s General Assembly which is to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 13-16 November 2016. The theme of the General Conference is : Higher Education: A catalyst for innovative and sustainable societies. ● The General Assembly will also be asked to adopt the new strategic plan for the Association which comprises ICT. Its second objective is: To promote the design of inclusive ICT strategies that, I hope, will take the Guideliines on board.

27. Effect on all organisations involved Changes in all organisations through trialing the Guidelines. ● New processes ● Developing organisational policies on accessibility Biggest critic that the Guidelines are too simple. Simplicity of the Guidelines is an asset! This was exactly what we wanted to achieve!

28. You have to start your journey somewhere... The Guidelines are a good start. They can start a process, which becomes easier with use.

29. Get involved! These Guidelines are an open source! Register on the ICT4IAL website Add comments on the Guidelines for Accessible Information Adapt them or repurpose them for your context. Share resources and experiences via the website or email

30. Contact details www.ict4ial.eu This project has been funded with support from the European Union. This presentation 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. Presenters: Marcella Turner-Cmuchal:marcella@european-agency.orgmarcella@european-agency.org Isabelle Turmaine: i.turmaine@iau-aiu.neti.turmaine@iau-aiu.net