<< Background >>The main objective of the ADORE project is to educate university teaching and training staff working in the field of communication on accessible content publishing and how to provide a more inclusive teaching experience in communication programmes. The project will establish a unique partnership between higher education institutions, training organisations and the private sector, with the overarching goal of mainstreaming accessibility skills in higher education curricula for communication disciplines, and to prepare students for the current and future needs of the economy and society.Context: According to the World Bank, one billion people, or 15% of the world's population, experience some form of disability. The prevalence of disability amongst the world population, coupled with a shift towards the provision and consumption of information in digital formats, has increased the need for accessible content publishing. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has made this need is even greater than before, with public authorities being forced to provide crisis information in a digital format. It is essential that this information is accessible and reaches all citizens, including underrepresented groups such as People with Disabilities (PwD), older adults and immigrants, leaving no one behind. What is accessible content publishing? The term accessible content publishing means the generation of information that can be used by people from a population with the widest user needs, characteristics and capabilities. For example, deaf people need information in sign language and visually impaired people need auditive information. What is meant by higher education communication programmes? This proposal refers to bachelors, Masters and PHD programmes or courses at European universities that focus on communication and include modules such as communication leadership and management, communication strategy, public relations, digital communication, media, marketing, amongst others. Why target higher education communication programmes? As of the 23rd of September 2020, the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive obliges public sector websites and apps to comply with accessibility requirements. Despite the implementation of this Directive in national legislation across the EU, most digital content is still not accessible to all users. It is therefore clear that those studying to work in the field of communication require access to specific training to be able to design and publish content in an accessible way. This, coupled with the growing insight that accessible digital content is better for everyone, will increase the demand for communication professionals who possess accessibility skills. However, there is not yet a corresponding supply of skilled professionals to meet this demand. Accessibility is usually not included within the communication programme curricula in higher education and more focus needs to be given on the different individual needs of the potential target audiences. As a result, many entry-level digital communication professionals are unfamiliar with accessible content creation.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the ADORE project is to educate university teaching and training staff working in the field of communication on accessible content publishing and how to provide a more inclusive teaching experience in communication programmes. The project will establish a unique partnership between higher education institutions, training organisations and the private sector, with the overarching goal of mainstreaming accessibility skills in higher education curricula for communication disciplines, and to prepare students for the current and future needs of the economy and society.The specific objectives include: Specific objective 1: to analyse the current situation and bridge the gaps with regards to •accessibility training needs of university teaching and training staff in the field of communication. •issues faced by underrepresented groups when accessing digital communication content. Specific objective 2: to clearly identify higher education courses and programmes related to the field of communication where there is an opportunity for accessibility to be included in the curricula. Specific objective 3: to improve the accessibility knowledge of university teachers and trainers in the field of communication. Specific objective 4: to facilitate access to the labour market for students of higher education communication. Specific objective 5: to stimulate the uptake of accessibility in the higher education communication curricula in European universities.<< Implementation >>The ADORE project aims to achieve the project results through the execution of activities such as: •Survey on accessibility training needs of higher education communications programme teaching and training staff.•Survey on issues faced by underrepresented when accessing digital communication content.• Mapping of higher education communication programmes where accessibility training can be included.• Co-creation and testing workshops for accessibility training toolkit• Online focus groups to develop the Personas • Accessibility Policy Workshop<< Results >>The ADORE project will achieve the following results:Result 1: Gap analysis on accessibility training needs analysis for university teaching and training staff in fields related to communication.Result 2: Mapping of higher education communication programmes where accessibility training can be included.Result 3: Co-creation of a needs-based accessibility training toolkit for university teaching and training staff working on higher education communication programmes.Result 4: Development of a set of personas representing professional profiles in the field of accessible communication.Result 5: Recommendations on the inclusion of accessibility in curricula for higher education communication programmes.These results will generate the following impact/outputs:Local and regional: •Increased accessibility knowledge and capacity of university teachers and trainers in communication programmes. •More accessible communication publishing.•Access to more inclusive teaching and learning environments in higher education communication programmes. •Greater awareness on accessibility in higher education communication programmes. •Enhanced employability of communication students. National: •Contribution to a more effective implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive in national law-making. The project team also hope that the project results will spur on more thorough compliance o the spirit of the Directive in public and private sectors.•Potential to use the project as a best practice to extrapolate the results to other universities at national level.•Positioning of ADORE partner universities as references in accessible communication programmes and inclusive teaching and learning environments. European/International: •A wider uptake of accessibility training within higher education communication curricula. •Access to effective training materials on accessibility in higher education programmes that can be adopted in other European universities. •Even out the compliance with the Web Accessibility Directive between partner countries and beyond.

<< Objectives >>Digitalization of education can have many positive impacts on students and their learning success, but at the same time, it can also pose a major barrier for some students, especially for students with different disabilities or special needs. The project aims to improve inclusive digital capabilities of the higher education sector for enabling equal educational opportunities for all students, but especially for students with disabilities or special needs.<< Implementation >>In the project we are going to:- develop Self-evaluation tools for HE institutions and HE teachers to determine the inclusiveness of their digital education,- develop various microlearning units on Inclusive digital education for HE leaders and HE teachers,- collect and describe several good practices on Inclusive digital education,- develop an E-learning platform as a central knowledge point for Inclusive digital education and - organize International Conference on the topic.<< Results >>The project will:- develop Theoretical framework for Inclusive digital education,- provide several Open Educational Resources for HE institutions and HE teachers on the topic of Inclusive Digital Education,- promote the involvement of students with special needs and disabilities in the processes of building an Inclusive digital learning environment,- increase the capabilities of HE institutions and HE teachers for implementation of Inclusive digital education.

There are some emerging trends worldwide, among which this Strategic Partnership spots the so-called global citizenship education and education for sustainable development, whose synergy and interactions can attempt some responses to existing global challenges, in a world increasingly interconnected, aiming at empowering learners of all ages to understand interconnection between local and global issues, letting them become active promoters of more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable societies. Global citizenship is defined by UNESCO as a “sense of belonging to a broader community and common humanity”. As such, global citizenship education concerns learning to recognize and respect multiple levels of identity, overcoming cultural, religious, ethnic and other differences, assuming a long-term, root cause approach to the issues related to sustainability in current societies. On the other hand, the overall objective of education for sustainable development is to equip people with knowledge of and skills in sustainable development, making them more competent and confident while at the same time increasing their opportunities for leading healthy and productive lifestyles in harmony with nature and with concern for social values, gender equity and cultural diversity. There’s a growing conviction among scientists, practitioners, policy makers, and relevant stakeholders how deeply the three areas of sustainability, namely economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection, rely on the contribution of educated and informed citizens, which requires a lifelong learning perspective, beginning in early childhood and continuing through all levels of education into adulthood, including both formal and informal approaches. While some important steps have been made to promote global citizenship education and education for sustainable development in schools and formal education, with progress being made, the Partner Organizations are aware of the importance of promoting them in lifelong learning, focusing on adult learning, with further efforts to be made.The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly reflects this vision of the importance of an appropriate educational response, explicitly formulating education as a stand-alone goal (SDG 4), due to global issues, such as for instance climate change, urgently requiring a shift in lifestyles and a transformation in the ways citizens think and act, to be achieved through the acquisition and development of new skills, values and attitudes. In fact, the Sustainable Development Goal 4, devoted to education, call on Member States to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. In this perspective, education is considered both a goal in itself and a means for attaining all the other Goals, being not merely an integral part of sustainable development, but also a key enabler for it.By the same token, we’re witnessing a growing interest of policy makers, both at EU and Member States levels, towards lifelong learning in general and adult education in particular, culminating in the adoption by the Council of the European Union, of a renewed European Agenda on Adult Learning (EAAL) as part of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training, which has determined the uptake of initiatives in support of the implementation of the Agenda by EU member States.The Partner Organizations intend to frame this Strategic Partnership’s scope and activity within some major initiatives undertaken at world level in recent years such as, for instance, the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals or the Council of Europe “Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education”, underlining a growing awareness of education’s essential role in a sustainable future, an important reference point for all those dealing with citizenship and human rights education, providing a catalyst for action.By the same token, the Partner Organizations are persuaded there’s an obvious link between adulteducation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the light of adult education’s purposes of providing skills, knowledge and competences, promotion of social inclusion, active citizenship, health and personal well-being, its role towards the Sustainable Development Goals is twofold: on one hand it is transversal and a precondition for the achievement of the goals, while on the other hand it is a goal in itself: SDG 4 ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.Adult learning contributes to the achievement of all SDGs by building the foundations of change in thesocial, political, economic, ecological and cultural spheres.

The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, access to information and more. It is essential that the Web is accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to persons with disabilities. An accessible Web (and mobile web) can also help people with disabilities more actively participate in society. Persons with disabilities in Europe are a significant group. Around 80 million people in the EU are affected by a disability. As the EU population ages, the figure is expected to increase to 120 million by 2020. It means that more and more people will have access needs. For them, equal integration into society, including digital access can be a real challenge. According to the EU Parliament, only one-third of the 761,000 EU public sector websites meet basic web accessibility standards. In its estimation, more than 167 million EU citizens have difficulty accessing public websites to use online public services. They also represent a huge market potential for businesses that use digital approaches what it can mean economic gains, as they can reach a larger customer base. Digital accessibility is becoming a must. The directive (EU) 2016/2102 on making the websites and mobile apps of public sector bodies more accessible have recently published (on 2 December 2016) and entered into force on 22 December 2016 (the Member States have until 23 September 2018 to transpose the text into their national legislation). The consortium consists of 6 partners from 4 EU countries, covering Southern, Middle and Northern Europe. All of the partners are from countries with a very low share of accessible web pages and almost not existing national/industry regulation of digital accessibility, where the training on digital accessibility is the most needed. Therefore it is important that website developers, designers, marketing and public relations people as well as managers and policymakers, have knowledge and skills for improving accessibility to disabled visitors of their websites / mobile apps. The aim of this project is to develop VET training modules and an Accessible web platform totally focused on digital accessibility to improve the knowledge, skills and competencies of key stakeholders according to web accessibility standards and in order to enable them to respond to the needs of visual, auditory, physical or cognitive disabled as well as older persons or low literacy website visitors/apps users, so they, in turn, are able to fully access and benefit from the digital era. The project aims to meet the following objectives: - create an ACCESSIBLE WEB PLATFORM - develop DIVERSE TRAINING MODULES - develop and implement CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS for trainers - increase the participation rate of disabled people in digital society - promote inclusion of disadvantaged groups in the labour market The training modules are to be embedded into the existing VET educational programmes to improve competencies of VET learners, students as future experts on one hand, and to improve competencies of already existing professionals in the professional field of websites/marketing, all that to contribute to more inclusion and equity in education and lifelong learning. Indirectly, VET trainers from all over Europe will be involved through the publication of modules as freely accessible materials of the modules. The project will also: - contribute to better access to training and qualifications for all, through making all materials accessible to all and freely downloaded from the web portal, - have an impact on the social inclusion of people with disabilities by promoting and encouraging learning about accessible webs and apps - strengthen the professional development of trainers, teachers. The project will improve the quality of training (initial education and continuing development), the quality of teachers, trainers and other professionals in the sector and will make courses more relevant to the labour market. Furthermore, the EU Added Value of the project is, on the one hand, provided by the ACCESS WEB PLATFORM, the enhancement of the new, updated, holistically approached to those people who want to learn accessibility of website/apps and on the other hand improved, intensive multidisciplinary modules for teachers but also for professionals and students in the field of Digital Accessibility, which will result, in the long term, in equally accessible for an increasing number of disabled people in Europe and in promoting employability in economically prospering, and necessary, sector of the digital economy. High-quality, certified and on European level recognised training will contribute to increased employability of people with disabilities. In the final stage, this type of education will contribute to the EU objective to ensure web accessibility for all.

FAST addresses a service need which is currently a key barrier to accessible travel. Personal Assistant Services (PAS) are often necessary to accessible travellers but expensive to have, primarily because they are controlled by travel agencies and the supply of such professionals is low.This project (FAST) will develop the definition of the individual who offers PAS to give more people the opportunity to become “Accessibility Travel Facilitators” (ATF). In this regard, FAST will first define the exact role and duties of the ATF under the new conditions and requirements. By clearly defining the role, the responsibilities and corresponding expectations will be set. Consequently, the definition of the position will identify the necessary qualifications, experience and educational requirements.As the occupational role of the ATF will be significant and key to the growth of accessible tourism, the project will design a qualifications framework for its profile to accredit the acquired skills by defining the level descriptors and the corresponding learning outcomes based on EQF. This will also facilitate access to, mobility and progression within education, training and career path. Furthermore, this will enable national qualification systems to expedite recognition of the acquired skills and competences, thereby ensuring an integrated system that encourages lifelong learning. FAST will then develop the necessary training framework comprising of the training methodology, training curricula and didactic material. Lastly, an Assessment Guide will be developed to address assessment strategies for the different stages of learning.The overall aims of the project are to:1.Define ATF as an occupation in accordance to EQF, thus establishing the basis for all European national qualification systems to licence it as a qualified job;2. Achieve ECVET/EQF/NQF conformity for the description of this position in order to allow mobility of learners, facilitate lifelong learning and qualifications recognition; 2.Encourage the local authorities to take control of this service, thus benefiting their local economies; 3.Motivate disable travellers to have more travel experiences without significant cost;4.Eliminate significant cost barriers associated with escorting for the disabled traveller;5.Foster transnational cooperation among the widest possible number of actors along the tourism value chain to better service accessible tourists;6.Demonstrate that VET education can contribute to the enhancement of accessible tourists’ travel experience;7.Stress the importance of VET education in improving the skills and competences of learners; 8.Establish safer land travel conditions for the disabled.The expected target groups will be:(1) VET Trainers: who are mostly engaged in non-formal VET education of learners in the tourism and hospitality sectors(2) Learners (future Accessibility Travel Facilitators): who will acquire new skills and competences and become the Accessibility Travel Facilitators(3) Local/Regional authorities: Want to implement new tourism policies and initiatives in order to increase influx of tourists to their destinations(4) VET Centres & stakeholders: VET who will strengthen their role and relationship with the tourism supply chain, specifically related to accessible tourism. (5) Tourism stakeholders: who want to claim greater market share from international accessible tourism (6) Tourism SMEs: Want to address new tourism markets and increase their sustainability outlook. (7) Accessible Travellers: want travel barriers to be eliminated in order to have more destination options.At least 460 members of the above target groups will participate in the various project activities.The impact on the various target groups will be:(1) VET Trainers: - benefit from their exposure to accessibility in tourism. - gain new skills, competences to offer accessible travellers an enhanced travel experience - be exposed to best practices and tools (2) Learners: - acquire new skills and competences –- be able to use a ready-made toolkit which will enhance their role in assisting accessible travellers (3) VET Centres & stakeholders: - strengthen VET role and relationship with the tourism supply chain- exploit the learning outcomes to launch EQF aligned certification programmes.(4) Partners: - identify opportunities by offering consultation and VET based courses to local/regional authorities to improve their accessible tourism services.(5) European business community: - gain competitive advantage over international competition in servicing accessible travellers (6) Accessible Travellers: - elimination of an important barrier to travelling - added quality assurance of a properly trained individual. - use of a trusted serviceFAST offers the basis for local/regional tourist authorities to launch a service that will differentiate their destinations from competition.