Smart inclusive universities: the role of technology for the accessibility and usability in the Italian context

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the Italian universities outlining their degree of accessibility and usability using digital technologies. Considering the crucial role played by the digital technologies in supporting educational and training processes and making them much more accessible and used in practice for students with disability and special needs, we aim to provide a portrait of the Italian universities and their way to be accessible and inclusive adopting the digital technologies (accessible website; visual content in PowerPoint slides; student-facing online tools, such as, clickers, discussion boards, chat bots, and WIKIs accessible, etc.). Starting from a deep review of the literature on the topic, we investigate the Italian universities mapping them considering some specific main features (i.e. the degree of accessibility and usability of website, the adoption of e-learning solutions, etc.). Our qualitative research, through a multiple case study, aims to provide interesting insights for the future analysing one specific country, where some relevant cultural, contextual, geographic and organizational factors can significantly impact the way the universities try to be much more inclusive, adopting digital technologies, and consequently becoming ‘smart’ universities.