Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

Summary

Mada, Qatar’s Assistive Technology Center helps to connect people with disabilities to the world of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Through Mada, people with learning, visual, hearing, and physical disabilities including Dyslexia are able to use ICT without barriers, unlocking a world of opportunities and information. As a non-profit organization, Mada offers assessments, advice and training for everyone.

Mada was established in 2010 as a practical response to Qatar becoming a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability (UN CRPD). Mada was established to connect people with a disability to technology regardless of need, age or settings. Mada has sought to build an accessible technology ecosystem within the region to achieve this.

Project object:

The strategic objectives established for Mada in 2010 were to:-

• - To connect people with disabilities to Information and communication Technology to make life easier, smarter and better.
• - To ensure that people with disabilities within Qatar have access to the technology they require to fulfil their potential.
• - To play a leadership role in providing Assistive Technology (AT) solutions, up to-date information on the latest AT, and training for people with disabilities, parents, and professionals.
• - To provide impartial expert advice and assessment on best practices in ICT related access.
• - To promote innovation in the field of AT.

Methodology

Mada was developed as a service that would seek to blend international expertise in the field with colleagues from Qatar with commitment and a thorough understanding of local policy and procedure. This created a two way knowledge transfer process which could be brought to bear to enhance the needs of people with a disability within Qatar.

Target

Mada sought to engage with the required ecosystem at a number of key pressure points. These included

• - Raising awareness and changing attitudes to disability and the use of technology
• - Increasing availability of Arabic AT and facilitating regional  innovation
• - Matching people with a disability to technology, evaluation of needs
• - Influencing public policy
• - Building national and regional capacity for sustainability
• - Delivering training for professionals and people with a disability
• - Addressing key research questions

Good practice innovations

• - Increased level of accessible websites within Qatar
• - Award for ‘technological innovation’, Hamad Medical Corporation (2011)
• - Zero Project award 2014
• - Major international conference in AT hosted in 2014

Good practice achievements

• - Over 30 assistive technology products developed in Arabic
• - Commercial and open-source projects to reduce cost
• - 120 arabic books available at bookshare.org, accessed by people in Qatar, the UAE and Egypt
• - Over 2,000 people supported in Qatar in three years
• - Over 2000 people attended training in workshops
• - 101 websites monitored for accessibility

Project documents:

• - Mada annual reports and information can be downloaded from
• https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r2nkfyqj0p9nk63/AAAN2bY4a5UPAOd-tWX_y8pFa?dl=0
• - Zero project factsheet
• http://zeroproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Qatar_Mada.pdf
• - PIADS summary
• http://www.techshareme.org/files/2014/11/Bryan-Boyle-PIADS.pdf

Other links:

• - Mada website – www.mada.org.qa
• - Mada AT Portal - madaportal.org
• - Mada elearning site – elearning.mada.org.qa
• - Mada YouTube Account www.youtube.com/qatcmada
• - Mada Facebook Account www.facebook.com/madaqatc
• - Mada on Twitter - @madaqatc
• - TechshareME – www.techshareme.org

Project partners and other stakeholders

• - Supreme Council for ICT / Ministry for ICT Qatar (ictQatar)
• - QSCCB
• - QSCCD
• - Shafallah Center
• - Al Noor Center for the Blind
• - Supreme Education Council
• - Hamad Medical Corporation
• - Microsoft
• - Vodafone
• - Ooreedo
• - Qatar National Bank

Good practice testimonial

• - Video testimonials of users of technologys supplied by Mada can be found at our youtube channel (url above)
• - Individual case studies and impact can be found in each of the annual reports produced by Mada (link above)

Evaluation

Mada has been a remarkable success in a relatively short period of time. It has created a central hub of expertise and resources that can be used across settings within Qatar, and which by virtue of open licensing support the development of services elsewhere. The impact of these services has been measured through the translation of the Psycho-Social Impact of Assistive Technology Scales  (PIADS) which have demonstrated very high correlations between the interventions and reported quality of life, adaptability and competency across the disabled population in Qatar.