Improving Social Inclusion Using NLP : Tools and Resources PROCEEDINGS

This paper discusses the issue of accessibility to being online and using social media for people with a learning disability, and the challenges to using a co-production approach in an accessible technology project. While an increasing number of daily living tasks are now completed online, people with a learning disability frequently experience digital exclusion due to limited literacy and IT skills. The Able to Include project sought to engage people with a learning disability as active partners to test and feedback on the use and development of a pictogram app used to make social media more accessible. The challenges mainly related to the feedback needing to be sent electronically to the partners; there was only minimal contact with them and no face to face contact. The paper also outlines how other challenges were overcome to enable genuine and meaningful co-production. These included addressing online safety and ethical issues regarding anonymity.