ADILE- Promoting Accessible DIstance LEarning for people with intellectual disabilities

ADILE was born out of a shared need to contribute to the removal of the many social and educational barriers faced by people with intellectual disabilities (PIDs), which limit their full participation in society. People with disabilities have have suffered from isolation due to social distance rules, while limited accessibility to ICT tools, distance learning and access to information related to COVID-19 have led to a deterioration in their quality of life. Based on our experience as educators of adults with intellectual disabilities, PIDs have particularly suffered as a result of the COVID-19 emergency from the disruption of educational from the disruption of educational activities since the pandemic. In this context, the development of tools to make distance learning inclusive and accessible is crucial to ensure the full participation of PWID on an equal basis with others.

With the implementation of the project, we wanted to promote the empowerment and social inclusion of PIDs by promoting the accessibility of ICT tools for distance learning. The aim of the project was to contribute to the removal of social barriers and obstacles, through learning activities aimed at promoting civic education in an inclusive way for PIDs . The implementation of ADILE was aimed at achieving the following specific objectives (SO): - SO1: Define an educational pathway for PWIDs focused on the acquisition of skills and competences for improving their autonomy, actives citizenship, media literacy, democratic values, exercise of rights. - SO2: Develop an accessible educational platform dedicated to PIDs to foster equal opportunities in distance learning. - SO3: Define a European distance learning model for PIDs. The SOs were largely achieved.

The following activities were carried out to achieve the objectives: 1. Research at national/EU level to analyse the training gaps on the accessibility needs of digital tools for online learning. The research report enabled the identification of objectives and learning outcomes of the Toolkit. 2. Development of the Toolkit (SO1): using the input provided by the Report, we defined the methodology, developed (and translated) the training modules. 3. Development of the Educational Platform and Pilot Action-PA (SO2): After the technical development phase, the partners, with the support of educators and PIDs, adapted the Toolkit materials and uploaded them to the Platform. After the tutor training that took place during the LTTA, the online training course for learners (PIDs) started, which enabled 43 PIDs to be trained. The PA was crucial to test the effectiveness and accessibility of the Platform. 4. Development of guidelines for a European model (SO3): the report on the results of the PA was the starting point for the development of the document. 5. Communication activities and promotion/sharing of the results. ADILE was also based on the realisation of 3 TPM and 1 LTTA, which were instrumental in achieving the objectives set.

The implementation of ADILE produced the 3 results: - Toolkit (R1): online training course aimed at PIDs to improve their understanding of the world around them and increase their autonomy. The accessible teaching material is based on notions of civic education, media literacy, geography, mathematics.The Toolkit is accompanied by an extra document not foreseen in the application, the ‘Guidelines for educators’ to better support the use of the Toolkit. - Online educational platform (R2): it hosts all the training materials contained in the course (R1) and was developed according to accessibility criteria. It enabled the testing of the accessible distance education model proposed by ADILE. - Guidelines for the establishment of a European model for accessible distance education for PIDs (R3). Based on the evaluation of the Pilot Action, ADILE developed a model for accessible distance education for PIDs. All results are available in EN,IT,ES,PL. The following process results, crucial for the full achievement of the intended objectives, were achieved: - 43 PIDs involved in the pilot action in the partner countries - 15 adult educators of PIDs trained and involved as tutors in the pilot action in the partner countries. - Creation of a European network of organisations working in the field of education of PIDs and/or with innovative educational tools. ADILE made new educational processes available to European organisations working with PIDs, based on the use of new technologies and accessible language.