Making lifelong learning a reality for all The impact of legal and political frameworks on accessible lifelong learning (ALL)

Within the EU4ALL project (www.eu4all-project.eu) extensive research has been undertaken to detect the impact of legal and political frameworks on the accessibility of lifelong learning (ALL), with a clear focus on higher education in this initial phase. The introduction of appropriate technologies in educational institutions is accompanied and shaped by legal and political concepts, measures and programmes capable of reducing or strengthening existing barriers to the participation in lifelong learning (LLL) for all. International declarations have been analysed as well as European legal and political frameworks relevant for accessible lifelong learning accompanied by research on national level in a sample of EU member states and Australia, Canada and the USA. Main areas of investigation are equality, nondiscrimination and equal opportunities as well as academic laws and corresponding policies and strategies in favour of disabled students at institutional level. 1 EU4ALL – European Unified Approach for Accessible Lifelong Learning In October 2006 a team of 13 European partners started to work on a project aiming at the development of a flexible, open, standards-based architecture of services to support lifelong learning within higher education institutions for all people, including those with special needs. The project will be carried out over a period of four years. Lifelong learning has become a well-known term in the last decade. With the maturing of the information society the awareness for the exclusion of certain groups of people from the benefits of ICT increased accordingly. Technology enhanced learning and e-learning contain great potential for disabled learners but, if technologies are not shaped accordingly, risks of further exclusion are evident. Thus EU4ALL defines accessible lifelong learning (ALL) as follows: „The lifelong learning paradigm recognises that, in a knowledge based economy, education and work are integrated throughout people’ s lives. All citizens need ongoing access to learning to enable them to work. Technology is playing an increasing role in mediating this learning. However, if this technology is inappropriate and introduced with insufficient support, disabled people will face even further exclusion from the interlinked worlds of education and work“ (EU4ALL Document of Work). Accessible lifelong learning is implemented at institutional level and realised at personal level but the frameworks to make it happen are developed and determined by legal and political actors at international, supranational and national level. Being aware of the important role of 1 Zentrum für Soziale Innovation, Vienna 2 Zentrum für Soziale Innovation, Vienna ha l-0 01 97 23 8, v er si on 1 14 D ec 2 00 7 Author manuscript, published in "Conference ICL2007, September 26 -28, 2007, Villach : Austria (2007)"