IMPACT means Inclusive Method based on the Perception of Accessibility and Compliance Testing. IMPACT is a strategic partnership of stakeholders from different fields addressing innovation in higher education, with a focus on three European priorities: a) development of curricula to meet labour market and societal needs, b) open education in the digital era and c) social inclusion. IMPACT will create a skills card of the new professional profile(s) for the implementation of the EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard (OI1), will design a modular curriculum (IO2) and will develop training materials as Open Educational Resources (IO3) for training professionals on how to apply the EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard. The assessment through end users and prospective trainees (students and trainers) will guarantee the quality of the resources and provide a repository of assessment methods (IO4). In IO5, IMPACT will certify the new profile and the educational components for both academic and vocational levels: ECTS/ECVETS. This will secure recognition at EU level and the project's sustainability. EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard enable disabled users to access to digital content. The need for accessibility when accessing digital content has risen since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the European Directives. They urge governments to implement measures to ensure access to people with disabilities. Yet, the provision across Europe is uneven and its quality uncontrolled. In 2015, a UN Committee carried out its first review of how the EU complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Committee found that the EU institutions needed to do more to meet their commitment to accessible communication for persons with disabilities. In a Decision of the European Ombudsman (strategic inquiry OI/6/2017/EA) on how the European Commission ensures that persons with disabilities can access its websites from December 2018, states the need of a mandatory training on accessibility for all staff members working on websites. At present most digital web content is not accessible, with no clear or recognized professional status (EU project ACT 2015). The European Accessibility Standard - EN 301 549 experts trained by IMPACT will have suitable skills to provide high-quality accessible contents in different contexts: website, technologies and tools. The training will prepare for three different working settings: face-to-face, online and by relay. This opens new job opportunities for people with and without disabilities.
The IMPACT project's aims were to: a) Increase employability by creating a certified course and European certification that will qualify professionals on the existing needed skills. The prospective trainees are: all graduates and postgraduates, professionals already working with accessibility issues on the web and other professionals who want to expand their skills. b) Promote an "Information for all" approach (Greco, 2016). IMPACT aims to benefit a wider target group of professionals working on accessibility in the web. This includes vulnerable audiences (deaf and hard of hearing viewers, physically challenged groups, people with special needs and learning disabilities). c) Create flexible Open Educational Resources (OER) that can be integrated in different learning environments and catered to the needs of various trainees' profiles, also blind and low sighted trainees. d) Conduct user centered evaluation with prospective trainers and trainees (IO4) to secure the quality of the resources and the trained skills, and the certification (IO5).
The European accessibility standard EN 301 549 allows disabled users to access digital content. For this standard implementation, it appeared necessary that a new professional profile be created in order to have a digital accessibility professional whose role is to be the human interface between the different stakeholders involved in the implementation of accessibility within organisations. These stakeholders include, but are not limited to * Disabled end-users * Employees with disabilities in the concerned organisations * Developers * Graphic designers * Interface designers (UX/UI designers) * Digital project managers * Management of organisations * Digital content creators This new professional profile is called Digital Accessibility Mediator.