Innovative Supporting sErvices for uNiversity Students with dEafness

ISENSE project was conceived to address the persistent lack of inclusion and support services for deaf students in higher education. Across Europe, these students face barriers in accessing interpreters, orientation, and academic support, often leading to withdrawal from university or exclusion from mobility programmes. The most critical need identified concerns the orientation phase, where deaf students often have limited or no access to clear and accessible information about courses, facilities, and career opportunities. This lack of inclusive guidance tools restricts their ability to make informed academic choices and to plan their professional future effectively. ISENSE was therefore designed to enhance the accessibility of orientation materials and, in general, university studies, through innovative digital and visual technologies, such as mixed reality, holography and artificial intelligence; thus improving both their academic inclusion and their future employability. Generally, the need was to combine pedagogical and technical expertise to design a project capable of bridging the gap between digital innovation and social inclusion, ensuring equal opportunities and autonomy for deaf students in university life.

The ISENSE project aimed to promote a more inclusive and accessible higher education environment for deaf students by integrating technological innovation with pedagogical and social strategies. Its main objective was to ensure equal access to university orientation and learning processes, reducing communication barriers and supporting informed academic and professional choices. The project sought to develop interactive digital tools based on holography and mixed reality, capable of transforming traditional orientation materials into multisensory experiences understandable also through sign language. Another goal was to train academic and administrative staff to better support deaf students, fostering awareness and inclusive competences within universities. ISENSE also pursued the creation of open and collaborative spaces for knowledge sharing, where institutions could exchange good practices and develop common standards for accessibility.

Several activities have been implemented. Firstly, research and technical activities for the achievement of the outputs within WP2-4 based on the realization of virtual reality scenarios (WP3) for the training courses and for empathy improvement, holographic-based audio-visual contents (WP2) for improve the accessibility of the information connected with the university orientation and motion-based data for the realization of open access database for future AI applications (WP4). Among the technical activities, it is also useful to include the ones related to the realization of the social network SHARE SLANG (PW4). Secondly, five national training activities have been performed (WP3), addressed to the teaching of the basics of national language in each consortium’s country and to improve the awareness on the deaf culture. Thirdly, network activities have been performed in order to define the contents of the memorandum of understanding (WP5), also by involving associate partners. Furthermore, dissemination activities to spread the outputs of ISENSE and monitoring activities to assure the project quality were performed. Finally, management activities have been conducted to control the project progress.

The project generated four main tangible results addressing different dimensions of accessibility and inclusion for deaf students. SLAATE introduced innovative holographic-based audio-visual contents that allow deaf students to access university orientation content in sign language, making information on courses, services, and mobility opportunities fully understandable. SONAR provided an interactive training programme for learning national sign languages combining traditional method and innovative virtual reality tools, enhancing communication skills among academic staff and students. SHARE SLANG created a new social network for sharing useful information on deaf community, including an open-access digital repository collecting videos, learning materials, and scientific outputs on sign language and inclusion, promoting collaboration and resource sharing among universities. Finally, GUI4DE established European guidelines and good practices for inclusive policies in higher education, offering a structured model to improve accessibility, orientation, and participation of deaf students. Together, these results created a sustainable framework for digital and social inclusion across European universities.