Training easy-to-read validators for a linguistically inclusive society

Abstract

Fostering the social inclusion of all its citizens, the European Union strives to create a linguistically inclusive society. Among the Erasmus+ projects funded by the European Union to achieve this goal is Train2Validate which proposes a research-based educational framework within which easy-to-read validators and facilitators are professionally trained to be able to officially work and produce high-quality easy-to-read content. The article focuses on one stage of the project in which a lesson was piloted with a group of people with disabilities to verify whether the educational content created within the project meets their needs. The piloting session was organised in Timișoara, Romania, with Romanian trainees, and it pointed to some positive as well as some negative aspects. Among the positive aspects mentioned by them were the video lesson, the structure of the educational content, and the understandability of the language used. The tasks that they completed on paper and online showed a better performance online, although the trainees constantly needed the technical support of the facilitators, which was perceived as a drawback of the piloting session. All in all, the feedback received from the trainees during and after the piloting session helps the Romanian project team make better recommendations on the implementation of the project outcomes. In the end, the trainees hailed the project as a welcome initiative that contributes to the social and linguistic inclusion of people with disabilities.

Keywords

• linguistically inclusive society
• linguistic accessibility
• accessible languages
• train2validate
• easy-to-read validator and facilitator