A final celebration was organised at Thomas More where all participants in the focus groups for the Social Network App and for PictoChat were invited, as well as other project partners.

Thomas More looked back at the research and its results, with a customized presentation for people with IDD). All participants with IDD received a certificate of participation in the Able to Include project and were thanked with a reception with snacks and drinks.

The presentation was very interactive, with an enthusiastic audience, and all participants enjoyed it very much.

An article about Able to Include was published after the event in the local press.

The conference was on the “Able to Include” project.

The motto of the event was “Making digital inclusion possible’’.

Digital inclusion means to create easy-to-use tools and programmes
so everyone can use them on computers and phones.

Many different organisations came to the event.

The director of Inclusion Europe Milan Šveřepa spoke about
how people need to be able to have access to information
to make decisions.

One person who also spoke at the event was Ineke Schuurman
from the Leuven University in Belgium.
She was involved in the “Able to Include” project.

Here is what she said:

“The project wanted to make the lives of people
with intellectual disabilities better.”

Ineke Schuurman told us about a few services
that have been created during the project:

• Text to pictogram translator
  This programme transforms text to images for better understanding.

• Text simplifier
  This programme changes texts to make them easier to read.

• Text to speech programme
  This programme will read text for you.
  You can also speak to the tool and it will write the sentence.

You can read more on www.able-to-include.com

She also mentioned two other applications: PictoChat and Kolumba.

“PictoChat” is an app which allows people with intellectual disabilities
to be able to talk to their support persons using images.

Jo Daems from Thomas More University College
said that the programme has improved
the ways in which people with intellectual disabilities can talk to others.

“Kolumba” is an easy-to-use email system that people
with intellectual disabilities can use.

Marta Ripollés from the Prodis project showed a video.
In this video a person with an intellectual disability
shows how the Kolumba system works.
This programme makes it easier to read and use emails.

You can use the programme at: http://kolumba.taln.upf.edu/?lang=en

Other people that worked on the project talked
about the importance of accessibility to social media.

One was Alejandro Moledo from the European Disability Forum.
He said that it is a big problem for people with disabilities
if the internet and applications are not accessible.

We also heard from Liz Tilly and self-advocate Satnam Singh.
Both are from an association called Building Bridges Training.

They talked about how apps give confidence to people
with intellectual disabilities.

The event showed that it is important that people with intellectual disabilities
can use new technologies.
It is important because it helps people with intellectual disabilities
to be more free and independent.

“Making digital inclusion possible” was the motto of the Able to Include final event which took place in Brussels. The meeting concluded the Able to Include project, an initiative which developed assistive technology to help people with intellectual disabilities use social media.

Participants from different European countries had come to listen to the presentations which made a link between the general concept of accessibility, experiences made during the development of the Able to Include apps and software layer and the final results.

Ineke Schuurman from Leuven University in Belgium opened the event by giving a short overview of the project: “The aim of Able to Include was to improve the living conditions of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities”, she explained. Several services were developed for this purpose:

–          an accessibility layer which is open-source and can be used by developers everywhere

–          a text-to-pictogram translator

–          a text simplifier

–          a text-to-speech programme

–          a social network app

–          the PictoChat mobility app

–          Kolumba, an easy-to-use e-mail web client

Inclusion Europe’s director Milan Šveřepa stressed the importance of the project for independent living: “Access to information is pivotal to taking decisions“, he said – and the Able to Include services help people with intellectual disabilities to obtain the information they need.

Alejandro Moledo, New Technologies & Innovation Officer at the European Disability Forum, emphasized how the lack of accessibility is a problem for all people with disabilities, as “one in three persons with disabilities has never used the internet”. This represents 54% of those who have never been online. All the more important it is to have a strong European Accessibility Act to improve the accessibility of websites all over Europe.

 “One in three persons with disabilities has never used the internet”
Alejandro Moledo, New Technologies & Innovation Officer at the European Disability Forum

Liz Tilly and Satnam Singh from Building Bridges Training, one of the project partners, gave an introduction into how they were involved in the development and testing of the different apps. “These apps have given people confidence”, as Liz Tilly put it. The testers are now using the internet more to find information or ask others to do it for them. Some members of the test group even bought their own tablets, and the testing sessions were an opportunity for them to make new friends and connections.

More freedom, more self-determination, more inclusion

John O’Flaherty from MAC, who was involved in the development of the Able to Include services, made the link to the perspective of the developers: “First we developed ‘safe’, cut down versions of selected social media, but users’ feedback clearly indicated that they wish to use the full ‘real’ services.” This is why a “web view” approach was developed to empower people with intellectual disabilities to access the complete Facebook and other social media apps. Safety was provided through optional support, as well as short videos from the Inclusion Europe-led Safe Surfing Project.

Once familiarised with the way a specific tool works, people with an intellectual disability can use it to gain much more freedom and independence. Marta Ripollés from project partner Prodis illustrated this with a video showing one of their clients working with Kolumba. The tool simplifies the interface of a personal email account, specifically of Gmail. “E-mail has become part of our everyday life”, Marta Ripollés said. “Why should people with an intellectual disability be excluded from using it?”

Thomas More University College and the non-profit De Schakel were specifically involved in the development of the PictoChat mobility app which allows people with an intellectual disability to talk with their caregivers by using pictograms. Bart Werrens from De Schakel demonstrated how he used the app to keep in contact, e.g. by sending the picture of a horse when explaining that he was at his workplace, a riding stable. According to Jo Daems from Thomas More, the app has improved many aspects of life for its users, for example their interpersonal relations and sense of social inclusion, but also their self-determination: “The user is able to make contact to others without the help of a caregiver. This is a very important step.”

The event was wrapped up with a presentation on easy-to-read. Juliette Sançois from Inclusion Europe’s member Unapei explained how automation can lead to more easy-to-read texts, while Armony Altinier from Koena, a company specialised in inclusive web development, talked about the importance of user involvement during development:  “Programmes need to be dedicated to people, not the other way round”, as she put it.

Participants of the event agreed that Able to Include is a good example of how digital inclusion can be a success. As our information society becomes more and more digitalised, we should make sure to not leave people with intellectual disabilities behind.

The conference presentations are available online.

The agenda includes several presentations by project partners which will further explain the Able to Include project and showcase the exciting ways in which technology can create accessibility. Representatives of the European Disability Forum and of Unapei, a French association for people with an intellectual disability, will also speak.

You can now register for the event – we hope to see you there!

They aim to find out how assistive technologies can be tailored to the needs of the people who use them. The results of the study will help to inform Members of the European Parliament of potential assistive technology opportunities and identify the challenges associated. The results will also help to form definitions for future developments of assistive technologies.

If you would like to learn more about the project, please click here.

They are particularly interested in responses from the deaf and hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired and people with autistic spectrum disorders, but all persons with disabilities can provide meaningful insights.

If you would like to contribute to an innovative and inclusive future society, you can fill out the questionnaire here.

The Science and Technology Options
Assessment Panel (in short, STOA)
of the European Parliament are doing a survey.

It is part of their research on the inclusion of persons
with disabilities in society, education and jobs.

They want to understand how technology
can help persons with disabilities and
what challenges you face when using it.

They will use the answers they get
to tell Members of the European Parliament
how technology can help persons with disabilities.

If you have a disability and would like to help
you can do they survey here.

• Project Manager of ABLE TO INCLUDE (Chair)
• Representative of each user organisation
  • Fundación Prodis
  • Building Bridges Training
  • Tomas More
• Technical Representative

The Committee will meet quarterly, the first week of January, April, July and October.
The Committe met July the 4th by Teleconference with the presence of

• Jaime Medina (Chairman)
• Marta Ripollés
• Liz Tilly
• Annelies De Vliegher
• John O’Flaherty

In this meeting the document “Ethics Considerations on Sofware Development for IDD Users” was approved and agreed to publish it in the Project website.

The document can be downloaded in this link: Ethics Guidelines

ENTELIS is a group of organisations
that work together to help people with intellectual disabilities
be included in technology.

Everyone has a right to use online tools and services
so they should be made accessible for all.

ENTELIS have created a document to tell others
how important this is.

They need people to support it and share ideas.

You can do this by clicking here,
and writing down 5 things you think would help
persons with intellectual disabilities use technology.

ENTELIS also have a seminar on 19 October 2016 in Brussels
to talk about this document and plan how our society
can become more inclusive.

The ENTELIS Manifesto is a powerful document that aims to raise awareness of the digital divide that sees persons with disabilities excluded from the benefits of the digital revolution. European Network for Technology Enhanced Learning in an Inclusive Society (ENTELIS) is a 3 years European project that addresses the digital divide by promoting collaboration in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and ICT Assistive Technologies (ICT AT) education to share knowledges across Europe. Partners from 10 countries are involved in the project, they have come together to collect, describe and assess good practices in ICT and ICT AT skills development of people with disabilities across Europe and to identify and map out future progress.

The document is now online for, civil society organisations, developers, academia and individuals alike to endorse it. To do this, you need to write down 5 priority actions you would undertake or recommend. People are encouraged to share the Manifesto or organize meetings to discuss its content and to develop some collaborative actions. Another way to show the support is by joining the Entelis network and sharing expertise and experience.

Entelis also invite you to their third annual seminar ‘Technology for unlocking human potential: roadmaps for closing the digital divide for people with disabilities’ which will be held in Brussels on the 19 October 2016 in the Thon Hotel EU coinciding with the celebration of the EASPD 20th anniversary.