From All Children Reading article on mediumposted on 29th March 2021In Rwanda, the lack of accessible teaching and learning materials for learners with disabilities is often a major barrier to access and inclusion. Learners with visual disabilities often have to wait for braille materials, while learners who are deaf or hard of hearing lack access to materials in Rwandan Sign Language and are unable to participate in mainstream classrooms where learning is conducted in spoken language.To address these challenges, eKitabu will collaborate with Rwandan DPOs, former ACR GCD awardee Benetech, education organizations from the public and private sector, and the government to widen access to books in accessible formats. These resources will be locally developed, approved by the Rwandan Education Board, and informed by Universal Design for Learning principles.Through the project—titled “Accessible digital content for children with disabilities at home and at school in Rwanda”—eKitabu will also work with teachers, community members, and caregivers to bring awareness to accessible ICT and how children with disabilities can actively participate in education using accessible digital books.“We hope that by the end of our project, more children with disabilities in Rwanda will be reading at grade level—learning to read and reading to learn,” Clurman says. “We also hope attitudes among teachers, headteachers, parents, and children will have changed countrywide toward the human potential of people with disabilities, and that accessibility will be a core requirement for technology in Rwandan education. Most of all, we hope Rwandan children with and without disabilities will be excited to use technology for learning to read together in schools, homes, and community libraries.”