Usability is a key factor to ensure computer systems can be used in an efficient and pleasing way. Accessibility is part of this, but creating accessible software does not necessarily mean that usability is reached to its maximum. In the specific context of adult education in IT, people with a visual impairment (VI) use screen magnifiers. These magnify the screen in different ways, but the computer system is still controlled using a mouse and keyboard. Even more specifically, people with multiple disabilities and visual impairment (MDVI) very often are not able to use the mouse and keyboard and need to rely on special hardware. In addition, people with a cortical visual impairment (CVI) are struggling to use computer hardware for different reasons. (e.g.: hand-eye coordination). Since eye-tracking systems have become more accurate and affordable, computer systems can be used and controlled using these systems. However, they are developed for people without any special needs. This project tackles this issue by selecting one or more eye tracking systems which are commercially available. The different partners select these using different criteria, and the adjust them to be used by people with VI, MDVI and CVI. After adjusting the eye-tracking system to the specific needs, applications that are specifically intended to be used by an eye-tracking system for people with MDVI and CVI are developed. (e.g. communication software with bigger buttons). Even though these are developed for people with MDVI, multiple disabled people without a visual impairment will also be able to use this software using an eye-tracking system. These applications will help the target audience to increase their use of computer systems and help them in their daily tasks. In addition, since professionals working with the target audience, the application will also include aspects which will help them to deliver a better quality of work for their clients and students.The participants organisations in this project all work in the field of visual impairment. Slovenia an Italy are experts in the field of VI, MDVI and CVI. Luxembourg and Spain provide the experts in developing the applications and adjusting the eye-tracking solutions to the specific needs. In addition to the application, a survey about eye-tracking solutions with their advantages and disadvantages, in regards with VI, are stated. In addition a user documentation for the use of the software will be elaborated as well as a developer documentation for software developers who want to adapt the applications to their specific needs.At the first meeting, the milestones will be established and then divided into several minor milestones which again will be divided into individual tasks. Each task is assigned to one ore more persons, and a GANTT chart is created in order to visualize the different tasks with their according milestones and deadlines.The team is managed by a modern agile approach, which allows to swift adaptations during the development process.In total, there will be 5 transnational meetings, in which the major milestones will be discussed and evaluated. In addition to these, each month will be an online meeting in order to track process and to receive feedback on the different tasks. This will ensure that a quick response to all the different issues that have arisen will be given by common agreement of all the partners.The results will be published on different platforms, among which is the project's website, e-Twinning platform and GitHub. GitHub is a open source development platform for software applications.

"Project Title:""Professional support for the teachers of visually impaired pupils in a mainstream schools""""Veljko Ramadanovic"" School of Visually Impaired Students, Belgrade has one hundred years of experience working with blind and visually impaired pupils.We recognized the necessity to provide training to teachers in an inclusive setting for using assistive technology, various tiflodidactic tools and Braille.We are building collaboration with the following partner organizations in order to exchange experiences and strengthen knowledge in this field:1. Center IRIS- Center za izobrazevanje, rehabilitacijo, inkluzijo in svetovanje za slepe in slabovidne, Slovenia;2. ISTITUTO REGIONALE RITTMEYER PER I CIECHI DI TRIESTE, Italy;3. Drzavno uciliste za deca i mladi so osteten vid ,,Dimitar Vlahov“, The Republic of North Macedonia.Goals:Our goals:- To strengthen the professional competencies of teachers in working with blind and visually impaired pupils in inclusive education settings- To encourage social inclusion of pupils with visual impairment in mainstream schools- To improve the teaching quality by using assistive technologies in inclusive education.Activities:1. Provide a professional training course for the subject teachers (two-day training course)2. Design a handbook for teachers in inclusive education as a practical guide for working with blind and partially sighted students;3. Exchange of good practices at the meetings, via Skype, Viber and a Web Site formed during the duration of the Erasmus + project.Results: - A new, published Manual as a practical guide to teachers in inclusive education, which provides information on the use of assistive technologies, and on Braille notation in subjects of natural sciences (math, physics, chemistry); - A training program of teachers in working with blind and visually impaired pupils in inclusive education settings; - Website - created during the duration of the Erasmus + project will serve as a platform for the exchange of good practices between partners and teachers in mainstream schools.The project activities will include about 40 teachers from the mainstream schools (per participating organizations). The project will greatly contribute to increasing the competencies of teachers engaged in the education of pupils with visual impairment."

The accessibility barriers for people with MDVI prevents them from an ideal interaction with computers.In the concrete context of adult education in IT, people with shortsightedness use screen magnifiers. These enlarge parts of the screen using the mouse cursor as guide. This inhibits a fluent lecture of text in many situations. The main reason for this is that the mouse must be moved along the text. View-centric magnification, in this case, can tremendously improve the quality of access to computers. An initial analysis of the solutions available has led to the idea that a software library should exist that solves most of the eye-motion-tracking problem. But a survey of openly available software libraries lead to disillusioning results. Solutions were either imprecise, too slow, too expensive or simply did not provide all the required features.Based on this, the idea for this project emerged. The precise objectives are the following: 1) Create a survey of available software libraries. Evaluate them in detail with respect the special needs for people with MDVI. 2) Create a consolidated library that is optimally applicable. The library must therefore be fast, precise and platform independent. 3) Create the initially anticipated view-centric magnification application.The whole process depends on stakeholders from various areas of operations. The precise requirements for people with MDVI must come from experts of the field.These experts together with MDVI people will define goals, evaluate results and give feedback for an iterative improvement.Eye-tracking is usable in other fields as well. Scholars in the domain of physical disabilities will be able to formulate the requirements and evaluate the library with respect to their area.Software engineers and developers will ensure the correct implementation of all the requirements in the form of a software library and an application.The team is managed using a modern agile approach. This assures a swift adaptation to the reality of the project at any moment of time. Before kickoff, a set of rigid major-milestones and an initial set of activities respectively tasks are defined, estimated and agreed upon. Between these major-milestones monthly sprint meetings will take place. Here the progress is evaluated and the next tasks are defined and assigned. The goal is to optimally share workload between the stakeholders in order to achieve the goals declared for the milestones. Major milestones evaluations take place in the context of proper meetings. All other meetings will be online video conferences.The produced results will be distributed through platforms that are open for everybody. The reason for this is to promote new projects based on the results of this research.

In order to improve the situation for blind and severely visually impaired persons, the number of O&M trainers needs to be raised drastically to shorten waiting times and provide the users with the required amount of training to fully be self-sufficient in their mobility. However this can only be a second step, as first there needs to be a training option for the orientation and mobility trainers (OMT) themselves. Currently the only available courses are hosted in single institutes that provide only a small amount of education slots. These trainings are also very expensive either for the trainers themselves or the organizations that plan to employ them in the future. Also the coordination between the different educational institutes in different European countries is quite weak which leads to OMT being educated in one country often not being able to transfer to another country as the techniques are used differently and the education is often not seen as comparable.Then there is the matter of the digital readiness in this specific situation. the projects want to analyse the different way to support the needs for frontal lessons during the OM path.The goal of this project is to set up a common training curriculum for all European countries that can be implemented by tertiary educational facilities (Universities and Universities of applied sciences) and that will encompass all skills and techniques, also ICT skils, required to provide OMT to blind and severely visually impaired persons. Over the duration of the project we will develop training materials, educational guidelines and courses that in their sum constitute a fully educational program. These materials will be based on existing training materials for OMT and will be adapted to gather for the needs of different countries and thus allow graduates to offer their services anywhere in Europe.Producing a curriculum is the first step towards a successful implementation of a train-the-trainer program in a defined curriculum. , we will also include the educational facilities that are supposed to host the newly developed program as well as public authorities who are later responsible for accepting the qualification of the OMT and subsequently are paying for their services. In order to involve these stakeholder groups we will conduct workshops and expert meetings in different countries represented in the consortium.Eventually the developed course materials will be provided as open educational ressources (OERs) that should allow different educational facilities to take up the provided content and develop their own graduate courses upon them and also to enable representatives of other persons with disabilities to add their needs and training requirements to these materials so that the range of services for the graduates can continuously be increased.

<< Background >>The special schools involved in the project are implementing customized education programs for the blind and partially sighted. To ensure the best possible conditions for education, each of them has developed various activities, including the adaptation of didactic materials for blind and partially sighted students. In the past, blind and partially sighted students were only included in specialized institutions. In these institutions, teachers have specific knowledge and experiences for adapting didactic materials and teaching aids for the needs of lessons.With development of inclusive education, blind and partially sighted students in all partner countries have become increasingly involved in inclusive schools. This has increased the need for adaptation of wide variety of teaching materials, as each school selects them autonomously. Because teachers during their studies are not trained to teach blind and partially sighted students, they often find themselves in need of how to adapt teaching materials so that these students can achieve their learning goals and be equally involved in the pedagogical process. For quality teaching and inclusion of the blind and partially sighted, they need various special knowledge in the field of teaching material, adapting materials, using adapted ICT equipment, knowledge of orientation and mobility, and braille. These teachers turn to special institutions for help and support. All partner schools are currently in the process of transforming into professional centers, the main goal of which is to help and support inclusive education. Transition is a process that requires professionals to be prepared for change and to acquire new skills. The design of the project and its main goals are therefore intended to raise the professional competencies of teachers who teach blind and partially sighted students and to raise the competencies of professionals who adapt various didactic materials. Teachers in Slovene and foreign schools use various teaching materials during their teaching process, but they can be useless for teaching blind and partially sighted students if they are not adapted in an appropriate way. When reviewing the materials with which teachers pursue the goals of the curricula, we can see that there is a lot of material. Some of these are essential for the acquisition of learning objectives and the achievement of knowledge standards. In doing so, we face the challenge of how to adapt tactile material that cannot be replaced by a description for the blind so that it does not differ significantly from the original and is accessible to students and teachers. Teachers are not sufficiently equipped with the knowledge and skills for this type of work and do not have the necessary hardware and software.Despite many years of practice, organizations involved in the adaptation of tactile material still adapt their own tactile material for the blind and partially sighted, as there are no unified recommendations. We are aware that unified recommendations could ensure better quality adjustments, as well as the possibility of exchanging adapted image material between partners. On the basis of unified recommendations, a freely accessible collection of adapted tactile material would be created, thus enabling teachers of blind and partially sighted students to access professionally adapted and high-quality teaching material for use in the classroom. By preparing videos and instructions for using a freely accessible collection of adapted tactile didactic material, we will also train teachers for their proper use. It is also important to note that in most countries, except Serbia, there is no higher education institution that would deal with the development of didactics and teaching methods for the blind and partially sighted, so international networking of experts within the project is important from the perspective of professional development.<< Objectives >>The plan of the project, whose main goals are to raise the competencies of professionals who teach blind and partially sighted students and to raise the competencies of professionals who adapt tactile didactic material for the blind, addresses the needs of all participating partners. With this project, we want to establish an international network of professionals who adapt materials for the blind and partially sighted, in order to acquire new skills in adapting tactile didactic materials and use their in-depth knowledge in creating a freely accessible collection. Acquaintance of teachers who teach the blind and partially sighted with the collection and Instructions for the use of these materials will enable the raising of teachers' competencies and the rationalization of their preparation and implementation of the learning process.Also, at the international level we still do not have unified recommendations for adapting visual material for the blind, so each organization adapts in its own way. Unified recommendations mean richer and better adjustments and offer the possibility of exchanging adapted image material between partners. Therefore, our desire is to ensure a high professional level of adaptation in all partner organizations by adopting unified Recommendations for the adaptation of tactile didactic material, which will facilitate the production of tactile materials for teachers of blind and partially sighted students.With a set of tactile material that will support the learning objectives, we will provide teachers with professionally adapted teaching material that they will be able to use during the lesson or will provide it to students for independent work. With this project, we want to give them free access to a collection of adapted tactile materials for the blind and partially sighted and train them how to use them. Instructions for using the collection and a video presentation will be available to them. Teachers are expected to use the materials in their pedagogical process and to enable blind and partially sighted students to be more equally involved in the pedagogical process, to provide a rich and professional quality set of tactile materials and to ensure greater sovereignty in implementing an inclusive educational process.Our wish is that all newly acquired knowledge to be included in professional training programs for teachers, which are organized by partner organizations also after the project. Last but not least, we want to enable the participants in the Erasmus + project to exchange knowledge and experience, both in the field of content, as well as in the field of teamwork, project management and language competences.<< Implementation >>Several different activities will be carried out during the project. Five international project meetings will be held, the purpose of which is to connect with partners, review current work, plan goals and future activities. International project meetings strengthen the connection between the partners and enable the exchange of ideas and good practices between all participants in the project. During the project, they are scheduled in such way that they enable the conditions for good cooperation and continuity of work on the set goals as much as possible. All but one meeting will be conducted live, which strengthens the working etiquette of all participants and facilitates collaboration. The first international meeting is more of an organizational nature, so it will take place virtually, and all the others are set up for live work, which enables higher quality in working progress. In addition to international project meetings, there will be continuous meetings of leaders of every partner organisation and the project coordinator, which allows for constant review of planned activities, monitoring of progress, resolving potential issues, conflicts or problems. There will also be two learning / teaching / training activities aimed at deepening existing knowledge and acquiring new knowledge. The first training Adaptation of textbooks and other teaching materials for the blind and partially sighted is intended to deepen knowledge about the adaptation of teaching materials and the acquisition of new knowledge in this field. The emphasis will be on adapting teaching materials and adapting didactic tactile material. The training will take place with the active participation of all project members in order to gain as much experience and practice in the field of adaptation. The second training on audio description of tactile material is another possible form of adaptation, which enables further development of the field of adaptation of didactic tactile material. At the end of the project, Multiplicative events will be held in every country of each partner and coordinator on the project. They will be intended for the presentation of project activities and results, to all those who are directly or indirectly involved in working with adapted materials. The event will be aimed at teachers of blind and partially sighted students, IRIS Centre professionals, parents of blind and partially sighted children, representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, covering the field of education of children with special needs and the field of the development and quality of education and also other interested public e.g. publishers. Project partners who will join us via a virtual connection will also be invited to the event. Multiplicative events will be organized in each country separately, in order to reach as many users as possible. These events will be organized in the final phase of the project so that the concrete results of successful international project cooperation can be presented.<< Results >>The expected products of the project are the manual Unified Recommendations for Adapting Visual Didactic Material for the Blind, which is intended for all professionals of special schools involved in adapting tactile didactic material, as well as teachers to help identify appropriately adapted materials and options for adapting selected material. The product of the project is also the Collection of adapted tactile didactic material for the blind and partially sighted. The collection will be freely accessible and extensive. It will collect all appropriately adapted tactile didactic materials of the participating organizations, which will be made during the project. The collection will remain freely accessible even after the end of the project and will be constantly updated with new. appropriately adapted tactile didactic materials. Thus, teachers of the blind and partially sighted will have a larger set of professionally adapted tactile material. The product of the project will also be the published Instructions for the use of adapted tactile didactic material for the blind and partially sighted, which will be supported by video demonstrations for teachers of blind and partially sighted students. The use of adapted tactile material requires certain knowledge and approaches, for a comprehensive understanding, so such instructions are necessary, as they allow their proper use. The expected results of the project are that teachers of blind and partially sighted students will use adapted tactile didactic material in the pedagogical process, freely access the collection of adapted tactile materials and be more efficent and autonomus in the implementation of the educational process. The expected results of the project will also be reflected in the adopted unified recommendations for adapting tactile didactic material for the blind and the established international network of professionals adapting materials for the blind and partially sighted and knowledge of various education systems for children with special needs in partner countries. The newly acquired knowledge will be included in professional training programs for teachers organized by partner organizations, professionals in partner organizations will acquire new competencies in adapting teaching materials and video presentations for teachers of blind and partially sighted students. Project work enables the acquisition of new knowledge and experience in the field of teamwork and project management, as well as the development of language competencies using the English language. The results of the project will affect the quality of education of blind and partially sighted students, who will have adapted learning materials that are currently inaccessible to them in order to achieve the learning objectives from the curricula.