PadiT – Platform for Digital Participation
PadiT – Platform for Digital Participation is an interdisciplinary research and development project promoting digital inclusion for people with disabilities. It responds to existing social, infrastructural, and educational barriers that have prevented equal digital participation to date, and sees itself as a contribution to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the digital space. The guiding principle is to strengthen digital self-determination as a fundamental human right.
The aim of the project is to build a barrier-free, modularly structured web platform that provides people with disabilities, professionals, and organizations involved in disability support with a wide range of verified information, tools, and participatory content. The platform addresses key areas of life such as technology, mobility, art & culture, school & education, work, rights, awareness, leisure, and digital infrastructure. PadiT pursues an empowerment approach and focuses on collaborative development, testing, and evaluation by people with and without disabilities.
The project was launched in October 2022 under the direction of Prof. Sophia Falkenstörfer together with Dr. Caren Keeley (2022-2023) and was funded by a start-up grant from the Heidehof Foundation. The first phase of the project included the conception and brand development as well as the establishment of a digital structure. After 2023, the internal project team at JMU (Fabian Schlausch in project coordination, Jonas Hörsgen, Johanna Vogel, and Larissa Kastner) developed the content sections and prepared a clickable prototype (click dummy). The current focus is on visualization, participatory content development, and preparing for further funding starting in October 2025.
PadiT understands digital participation not only as access to technology, but as a structural condition for social inclusion. The project develops solutions for key challenges: insufficient accessibility of digital media, lack of digital skills in education and care, lack of legal and technical standards, and lack of inclusive education strategies in the digital transformation.
Publications: PadiT – Platform for digital participation
- Falkenstörfer, S. & Keeley, C. (2023). Zugänge zur digitalen Teilhabe für Menschen mit Behinderungen in schulischen und außerschulischen Kontexten. In G. Boesken et al. (Hrsg.), Lehrerinnenbildung gestalten: Band 14 (S. 131–145). Waxmann.