User Centred Design and Universal Design approaches for enhancing the learning technologies

Living in a hyperconnected world and looking at the new technologies, with special regards to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the research is aimed at finding new designing scenarios for im- proving learning and teaching practices for disabled users, who very often are socially excluded. The Con- vention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, states itself, the relevance to undertake or promote re- search and development of, and to promote the availability and use of new technologies, including ICT, mo- bility aids, devices and assistive technologies, suitable for persons with disabilities, giving priority to tech- nologies at an affordable cost. To this aim, within the framework of ICT for learning, the assistive and adaptive technologies which include a range of devices (hardware, furniture, computer screens, software and so on), are usually employed to en- able anyone to work more healthily, effectively and with equal access to the technology regardless of any impairment or disabilities. Similarly, e-learning and m-learning platforms, born as electronic educational technologies, are largely in usage nowadays as networking environments to promote the integration and guide learning through flexible architectures based on current standards of web accessibility, platforms and content format (WAI - W3C). In this complex scenario, the foreground role of the Ergonomics in Design may help to develop inclusive so- lutions, thus enhancing the learning potential for all users. This is carried out thanks to approaches User Centred Design (UCD), which often are revised in a widest Universal Design (UD) perspective.