Society, Assistive Technologies, Accessibility and Inclusion: what's the connection?

Abstract

In light of the above, the VII International Conference on Inclusion (INCLUDiT) and the I Conference on Support Technologies and Accessibility (CTeCA) took place in Leiria on 18 March 2023. These events sought to foster dialogue, sharing and the scientific dissemination of research, as well as good practices and experiences in the areas of inclusion, accessibility and support technologies, from a multidisciplinary perspective. To this end, a wide range of thematic areas were considered, namely: Inclusive education; Information and communication technologies for inclusion; Inclusion through the arts and culture; Accessible communication; Health and well-being for ALL and Heritage and accessible tourism.

These themes were considered in an accredited training course for teachers entitled "Towards an education for all", which aimed to sensitise educators/teachers to the importance of inclusive education and the need to explore accessible resources, to reinforce the importance of technological literacy in individuals with specific needs and to publicise technologies to support education for all.

From the presented work, emerged technical-scientific knowledge that cannot fail to be shared. To this end, and as a result of the partnerships established, a book and a series of articles have been published in scientific journals, such as the one presented here.

In this issue, we can read four articles debating Policies and Evaluation and two articles presenting evidence of how (Digital) Technologies can contribute to the inclusion of people with disabilities.

We hope to contribute to raising awareness and scientific development in this area, which is as special as it is necessary.