”Select ALL” e-Accessibility Assessment Report for South Eastern Europe
A particularly successful activity was recently the subject of a television programme in which, beginning in 2010, a talented tetraplegic student is supported to study entirely from home. A personal assistant connects the student to lectures via Skype, mobile phone and SMS, attending all classes and relaying the content by video and audio. The student can put questions directly to the lecturer. If problems arise with communication, the lecture is video recorded for playback by the student later. The Ministry covers the wage of the personal assistant for half-time, as well as communication and technology costs. The centre currently has 43 people using their services. A selection and tailored support process is in place. Each year they issue a Call for Users. Initially, candidates indicate their needs by email. They are then interviewed to assess their specific needs and to enable the design of personalized solutions. So far they have managed to support every student who has come forward for assistance. Another NGO, SUMSI, the Croatian Union of Organisations for Youth and Students with Disability, is active in the area of arts and culture. Their Project “I Hear, I See” enables young people with disabilities to go to and enjoy the theatre. CARNet is a government institution that supplies network infrastructure and support for its use in higher education, and it too has e-Accessibility activities. It ran a web accessibility conference in 2009, including in it an innovative competition on e-Accessibility. Since the conference, CARNet has added an e-Accessible module to its six week e-Learning Programme, as well as screen readers to enable blind people to access the lessons. CARNet activities relating to the promotion of web accessibility and the development of accessible online content and activities take place on several levels: 1. raising awareness of CARNet users, as well as the broader community, on the need to ensure accessible educational content and activities; 2. adapting the existing, and developing new, educational content and other services provided by CARNet in accordance with accessibility standards; 3. educating users on the standards and ways of developing accessible online educational content and activities in accordance with universal design principles, and raising awareness on the need to ensure proper support for their use. An overview of these CARNet activities is provided below: 1. As a part of raising the awareness of its users, as well as the broader community, on the need to create accessible educational content and activities, CARNet organized several events on the topic. It also established cooperation with experts and organizations on questions of web accessibility and the development of web accessibility standards. 64