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About the project

PROJECT OVERVIEW

According to the Strategy for fighting poverty and social exclusion In the Republic of Croatia (2014.-2020.) unemployed people and people with disabilities are stated as the most vulnerable population group, the first ones affected by the exclusion on an economic basis, the second ones given their disability. According to the last available data (Croatian Institute of public health from May 3rd 2019) there are 511.281 people with disabilities registered in the Republic of Croatia. Among the total number, there are 27.092 visually impaired people, which makes 5.3% of the total number of people with disabilities. More than a half (14.321) of the registered visually impaired people have a diagnose “visual impairment and blindness”.

For comparison, in Spain, 22.23% of the Spanish population (8.855.000) represent visually impaired adults between the age 18 and 60. Considering the territorial dispersion of the mentioned population, it is important to note that three of five PWD (58%) live in four autonomous communities: Andalusia (20%), Catalonia (15%), Madrid (13%) and Valencia (10%). In urban centres (more than 10.000 people) live 67%, in middle developed urban centres live 16%, and in rural centres with less than 2.000 people live 17% of the population.

Currently there were no available statistic information about Slovenia. Nevertheless, according to the data of Eurostat for the year 2021, 29.7% of the citizens of the European Union who are people with disabilities are on the verge of poverty and social exclusion.

Blind and visually impaired people can fulfil their potentials and dreams with the help of modern technology. Devices with assistive technology exist longtime of the market, but even so, because of the traditional education system, which still prevails in public schools in Croatia, Slovenia and Spain, visually impaired people are not trained to use new devices. The rehabilitation of later blinded adults who deal difficultly with their disability represents even a bigger problem. Visually impaired people recede in the safety of their homes, they reject social contacts, they distance themselves from society, and they are at risk of developing anxiety, depression, addictions to alcohol and opiates.

Guided by the principals of inclusion and non-discrimination of people with disabilities in the labour market, we have planned on creating digital tools, accessible for people with visual impairment, i.e., the blind and partially sighted people who are part of the most vulnerable group of PWDs.

 

SPECIFIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The first project objective refers to establishing an international consortium, which leads to partner organizations contributing, with their experience in working with people with disabilities, to quality improvement and long-term results for bettering work conditions and everyday life of visually impaired people.

Specific objectives which we want to accomplish with this project are to:

  1. Establish international collaboration between intersectoral organizations who work with people with disabilities by strengthening capacities of the organizations for implementing the Erasmus + projects and making virtual tools for visually impaired people.
  2. Improve the knowledge and skills of visually impaired people for accessing the labour market by creating online handbooks accessible for the blind and visually impaired.
  3. Increase the availability of virtual tools for visually impaired people by creating OER with video instructions for the use of AT devices.

The intellectual results with which we will accomplish our objectives are:
-publishing online handbooks accessible for visually impaired people, featuring the subject of the approach to the labour market for the blind and visually impaired.
-publishing virtual platforms in 7 modules with short video lessons about the use of the devices with assistive technology.

 

TARGET GROUPS

The first target group, i.e. the partner organizations gathered in a consortium, work actively on the inclusion of PWD in the labour market, as well as on the improvement of labour and other conditions of PWD in their local communities. This project represents the sequel of active commitment of all organizations on a higher, international level.

CABPS and MDSS Kranj are non-profit organizations from Croatia and Slovenia whose mission it is to work with blind and visually impaired people, providing advisory help, sending them to rehabilitation, extra education, finding jobs and promoting the improvement of accessibility for blind people in local communities.

CABPS had last year 3 employed blind persons between the ages of 19 and 31. Given that 2 blind persons were employed through public supports during just 6 months, now we have 1 blind person employed on indefinite period of time. That person works in administration on managing projects financed by public sources, and her profession is specialist of public administration. Working in the office would be unimaginable without the use od devices with assistive technology. Considering that she knows from her own experience what it means keeping up the pace with technology, Ivana has started giving individual lessons of informatics to interested members. The creation of video content with educational character is a logical sequel to the already existing activities, so that the educations could be available to a larger number of visually impaired people on the territory of the Republic of Croatia. By purchasing new informatic equipment and devices with assistive technology, the Applicant will be encouraged to introduce new, innovative methods in their daily business activity.

MDSS Kranj also has an employed secretary who is a visually impaired person. Unfortunately, the knowledge and interest in the use of devices with assistive technology is declining proportionally with the aging of PWD, in the Slovenian association as well. It is precisely by digital tools that the organization hopes to appeal to visually impaired people to use new devices which are more available to the Slovenian colleagues in comparison to the Croatian ones.

The Spanish social company FI will learn about the approach and needs of blind and visually impaired people, considering that they still have no experience with this target group. To be more specific, the educator from the organization FI is qualified to work with deaf and deafened people, but they still haven’t worked actively with visually impaired people. The organization particularly actively promotes non-discrimination and employing PWD, therefore new tools will allow them a successful continuation of working with the target group on a local, national and international level.

The end users are people with disabilities, their friends, family members, colleagues, social workers, pedagogues, scientists, educators, professors, employees of the local communities, journalists, that is, people who are not directly connected with the implementation of work tasks, but they will be familiarized with the objectives, activities and project results thanks to a prepared dissemination strategy. Additionally, the second group of end users includes associations of PWD, social companies, municipalities, social welfare centres, all of whom will be familiarized closely with the project results, as well as the possibilities for further collaboration and sustainability of project results.