Presentation

Description

Plena Inclusión Madrid is the Federation of Organizations of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities in Madrid. Its mission is to contribute, from its ethical commitment, with support and opportunities, so that each person with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families can develop their own quality of life project. As well as to promote their inclusion as full citizens in a fair and supportive society. Plena Inclusión Madrid is part of Plena Inclusión España, a confederation that works at the European level through Inclusion Europe and Inclusion International.

Digital activity

Presence on the Internet with:

Corporate Web: www.plenainclusionmadrid.org
Project Websites: www.diccionariofacil.org, https://distrabaja.plenainclusionmadrid.org/, www.train2validate.org
Social media profiles:

o Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/plenainclusionmadrid/
o Twitter : https://twitter.com/PlenaMadrid
o LinkedIn : https://es.linkedin.com/company/plenainclusionmadrid
o YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/feapsmadrid
o Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/plenamadrid/

Good practice targeted

Accessibility

To go further

https://plenainclusionmadrid.org/

Good practice

: Project «Diccionario fácil» (Easy Dictionary in English) «Diccionario fácil» is an open online dictionary (www.diccionariofacil.org) that writes definitions according to easy reading guidelines. The dictionary includes both words and expressions. Up to three definitions are written for each term, with an example of usage and a picture, if it helps understanding. The work process takes place within an intranet. This process includes adaptation, revision with a lexicographer and validation with people with intellectual disabilities (before and after the lexicographer's review) to check that the definition is understood. The dictionary website is on a user-friendly and accessible website with AA standard. The project aims to solve the difficulty to understand the definitions in existing dictionaries that people with intellectual disabilities and other reading comprehension problems experience.

Costs

...

Starting date of the good practice

Public launch in March 2017

Time to implement the good practice

One year until the release and then it is still active with a progressive increase in the number of words and expressions published.

Tools/partners/suppliers of the good practice

Funders: Repsol Foundation, Community of Madrid (through the 0.7% personal income tax programme), ONCE Foundation
Collaborators: FundéuRAE, Larousse/Vox Publishing House
Entities that validate easy reading: entities of the service Adapta (Adisli, Apama, AM Pinto, Aspacén, Aspadir, Aspimip, Ademo Foundation, Aprocor Foundation, AMÁS Group, Cirvite, Alas Madrid Foundation, Rudolf Steiner y Afanias Association)

Plena Inclusión Madird; Óscar García Muñoz, accessibility project coordinator

What are the benefits of the project ?

«Diccionario Fácil» is a tool that facilitates the understanding of definitions of terms and expressions for people with reading comprehension difficulties. Therefore, it allows profiles such as people with intellectual disabilities, language disorders, elderly people with a certain degree of cognitive impairment or recent immigrants with a low level of Spanish to find a tool that provides them with simple definitions for commonly used terms and words. «Diccionario Fácil» does not aim to adapt an academic dictionary, but to be a tool for everyday language.

What were the constraints faced by the company ?

The most important difficulties were related to the technological development, as it is a tool that requires a specific workstream with different roles. It was also complex to design an accessible and usable website, which would allow reaching the definitions in a simple way.

Which advice would give to another company ?

When dealing with projects related to language, accessibility and inclusion, it is always important to have experts who complement each other. In this case, a team made up of writers of easy-to-read texts (a technique used for writing because of its inclusive nature for people with reading comprehension difficulties), linguists and people with intellectual disabilities who checked the real understanding of the definitions (to make adjustments, if necessary) was the basis for its success. On the other hand, the project needs to have a purpose of continuity and sustainability. In the field of accessibility, it is common to find very good ideas that die quickly due to lack of continuity (for various reasons, such as lack of resources, overcoming that practice, changes in the organisation). However, having a plan and providing continuity give confidence to this practice. In our case, continuity has a reward: from its launch in March 2017 to December 2020, 6.6 million sessions and 25.4 million page views have been achieved.

What are the next steps?

Firstly, to update the technology. Both the external website and the intranet to bring them up to new standards and to allow further growth of the project. Secondly, to maintain the dissemination of the project through participation in events and congresses, as well as awards and recognitions. We are currently among the finalists in the Zero Project initiative, which this year recognises the best international inclusion and accessibility projects. Thirdly, to continue with the growth in the number of terms published thanks to the network of easy-to-read adapters and validators.