The missing link? Design for all elements in ICT education fostering e-inclusion.

Accessible Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems and applications are able to offer an important opportunity for social, political and economic engagement. Additionally, the established principles and practices of Design for All could help to minimise the risk of exclusion of citizens from the information society such as older adults, disabled people, people with low literacy or those not using their first language But what if the future providers of ICT solutions and applications lack the knowledge of Design for All principles and practices, and the skills to apply that knowledge to support innovation and advancement

Design for all as focus in European ICT teaching and training activities.

Both in the EU and UK the goal of digital inclusion demands a broad understanding of the factors that contribute to the risk of exclusion, such as a result of age, disability, low literacy, geography and ethnicity. The overall methodologies and principles of Design for All are well established and address many of the challenges of design for user diversity including older and disabled people. However, these are not yet an established part of the curriculum in mainstream Computing and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in higher level education. The Design for All @eInclusion project investigated the current provision of education and training of future developers and associated disciplines and identified progress and gaps. Best practice included examples of specialist modules and ‘hidden gems’ – instances of small elements such as single lectures that are optional, integrated or embedded within a larger module. These findings contributed to the development of curriculum guidelines which take account of the latest agreements for European harmonisation through the European Qualifications Framework. These guidelines are intended to stimulate the creation of new courses throughout Europe

The challenge of mainstreaming ICT design for all.

The education and training of ICT students and professionals with respect to Design for All is a vital part in the process of achieving eInclusion throughout Europe. This paper outlines the latest activity on the development of a curriculum in Design for All in ICT in higher education and professional development, and discusses some of the challenges of mainstreaming ICT Design for All. Concepts have been devised to introduce Design for All at bachelor-level of mainstream ICT education, to implement a masters degree in Design for All, and to provide training for professionals in ICT industry

Teaching Accessibility and Design-For-All in the Information and Communication Technology Curriculum: Three Case Studies of Universities in the United States, England, and Austria

Digital technologies allow people with disabilities to participate independently in society in ways they never could before. The full realization of these new opportunities remains elusive, though, because working professionals in the information and communication technology (ICT) field rarely receive adequate training in how to make digital ICT accessible to people with disabilities. Adding accessibility to the university ICT curriculum can help create a critical mass of ICT professionals with accessibility awareness and expertise to finally realize the full accessibility potential of digital technologies. This dissertation provides a rich informational context from which ICT curriculum leaders can decide how to best infuse accessibility into their own curriculum