Partners
Mid Sweden University
Mid Sweden University (Mittuniversitetet) is a public, non-profit university situated in the middle of Sweden. The university has around 1000 employees and 14 000 students and a turn- around of appr. 1 billon SEK. The university are organised in two faculties, Humanities and Natural Science, Media and Technology. Among the staff there are 90 professors and more than 55% of the lecturing staff hold a PhD exam. Around 200 PhD students are active at the university.
The project is placed within the Forum for digitalization Research group (FODI) at the Department of Information technology and systems (IST). FODI is a multidisciplinary research group focusing on the phenomenon digitalization (theoretically and as practice) within application areas such as digitalization of public sector, electronic archives, distributed knowledge management, and computer supported decision support and perceptions of optimization. Throughout power, participation, accessibility, and inclusion are central areas in the study programmes.
University of Genoa
The University of Genoa (Università degli Studi di Genova), founded in 1481, is one of the largest universities in Italy, counting approximately 35,000 students, 1,400 teaching and research staff and about 1,300 administrative staff.
More than 1.300 faculty members are distributed over 5 Schools (Math, Physics and Natural Sciences, Medical Sciences, Polytechnic, Social Sciences, Humanities). UNIGE counts 22 Departments, 27 PhD courses, 55 Specialization Schools, an Integrated Library System, 11 Research Centres, and 2 Centres of Excellence.
The University of Genoa offers a wide range of degree courses for ICT-related education such as web development, design and communication. Moreover according to national and European laws it provides specific services and facilitates to students, professors and staff members with disabilities or learning disabilities.
Stuttgart Media University
Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien) is a university of applied sciences with a specific focus on media and their applications. Research topics are manifold, and centred on the various applications, opportunities and implications of modern digital media, including future directions of digital media and user interaction, gaming and game design, artificial intelligence in context of user and robot interaction, digital ethics and digital media law. HDM has approximately 5.000 students and 450 paid staff members.
The research group Responsive Media Experience (REMEX) consists of 7 professors and 8 research staff. REMEX is headed by Prof. Dr. Gottfried Zimmermann and focuses on digital media and how they can be adapted to the requirements and preferences of a specific use context, i.e. the users themselves, the devices and platforms, and environmental (situational) parameters. Expertise in this research group comprises the topics ICT accessibility, user preference management, mobile design and development, user experience design, gamification approaches, and AI-supported accessibility.
IAAP Nordic
The Nordic chapter of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) is run by Stiftelsen Funka. The aim of the IAAP is to promote and enhance accessibility skills in a number of fields, but especially within the ICT sector. Many of the world’s leading tech companies are included among the IAAP’s founding members, including Microsoft, IBM and Adobe. Since it was founded in 2014, the IAAP has undertaken a number of activities to raise awareness and educate stakeholders in the field. The IAAP is also deeply involved in certification, offering the only globally recognised certifications in web accessibility skills: Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) and Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS). In a short period of time, the IAAP has become a driving force for accessibility around the world. Now, the IAAP has over 120 organisational members in 42 different countries.
Funka
Funka is an SME with a very close and unique relationship with Scandinavian end-user organisations. It started in the 1990s as a joint, non-profit initiative among all disability organisations in Sweden. The knowledge, staff and technology of the non-profit was turned into a privately-owned company in 2000.
Today, Funka is market leader in the field of accessibility with 80 percent of Sweden’s public authorities as customers. The business concept is to offer expert services regarding accessible ICT for better quality of life, and to develop user-friendly, efficient and accessible solutions. The company applies a highly user-centred approach with testing and close collaboration with end-users throughout the whole design and development process. This ensures a unique level of quality control as well as anchorage among users.
Funka is active in standardisation and strategic consulting on policy implementation in many European member states and is regularly supporting the European Commission. The company has long lasting experience in EU projects aiming to develop innovative solutions for education and training.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The page was updated: December 13, 2023