The above mentioned needs, which arose during the ongoing COVID19 pandemic in educational settings with a special focus on the SEN and accessibility were addressed in this project. The project presents short-, medium- and long-term solutions, innovative approaches and instruments for VET educators and decision makers with a clear focus on the educational environment and accessibility especially for learners with special needs for a good, well-balanced, inclusive digital education, There was produced: 1-a DIG-i-READY Good Practice Catalogue, with a special focus on implemented solutions during the COVID19 crisis ,2- a DIG-i-READY Handbook, which provides Digital Competence indicators and guidelines for “going digital”, a collection of accessible and inclusive digital tools, recommendations for a systemic change for a “new and inclusive normal” a localised version of the DIG-i- READY handbook in the 6 partnering countries (CY; I, A, D, LV, BG) The outcomes can be immediately used to face the COVID19 emergency but also are a useful resource when other "emergencial situation" (earthquakes, floods, other epidemical crisis, etc) emerge.
Some time ago, Europe struggled with COVID-19 , which had an impact on people's lives. Additionally to the economic consequences, the education sector suffered in particular. Various schools remained closed all day and educational processes were disrupted. As a first response distance learning was introduced to ensure continuity of learning.Online education platforms allowed students to learn at their own pace, but students with special educational needs (SEN), who needed e.g.technical foresight, were partly excluded due to the lack of accessibility. Different learners/teachers were not prepared for accessible/remote schooling. The digital gap was visible. Consequently there were problems on different levels, e.g.on the administrative level of each VET center/school to facilitate the process of digital preparation, on the methodological level, where the teaching staff was/is not prepared to tackle digital education, and on the level of learners who are/were not able to deal with digital education as they are/were not used to digital education tools. In addition to that, learners with SEN were forced to stay at home without the specialised support that they would otherwise have access to schools or other structured facilities