On 27–28 May 2015 the International Conference for the ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning (ICT4IAL) project took place in Riga, Latvia. This project is run by a multi-disciplinary network formed by the Agency in partnership with European Schoolnet (EUN), the International Association of Universities (IAU), UNESCO, the DAISY Consortium and the Global Initiative of Inclusive ICTs (G3ICT).
At the conference, the partners presented the Guidelines for Accessible Information, a tool to support practitioners and organisations that provide information for learning in creating accessible materials. The document contains instructions and resources on how to create accessible materials in text, audio and video, which can be applied to all types of information produced, but will be especially beneficial to learners with disabilities and/or special needs.
The event was an official event of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU, supported by the Latvian Ministry of Education and the National Centre of Education. The two-day conference brought together experts and practitioners from the field of education and ICT, to discuss the importance of equal access to information, which has an impact on learning and participation in society. Participants agreed that the Guidelines are a useful tool for a wide range of professionals, such as school and university staff, librarians, communication officers, authors of teaching and learning materials and publishers. Participants also agreed to the call to investigate the accessibility of one’s own organisation as a starting point.
The Guidelines are available on the www.ict4ial.eu project website as open source educational resource, where registered users can comment and contribute to their further development. Conference materials and presentations can also be downloaded from the project website.
