Puzzle is a social cooperative enterprise founded in 2015. We work tirelessly for the social inclusion and support of people with disabilities, focusing on improving quality of life through education, counselling and innovative programmes.
E.A.S.E PROJECT - EASY AND ACCESSIBLE LANGUAGE
The E.A.S.E project is funded by Erasmus+ Key Action 2: Adult Education. This project is led by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Malta) in collaboration with partners from various European countries. The project consortium includes Boarve Konsult, Puzzle SE Greece and the Cyprus Certification Company.
Who we are
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD - Malta) is the main beneficiary of the project. The CRPD is the competent body for disability equality in Malta. It is the national independent mechanism of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which oversees the promotion, protection and monitoring of the Convention in Malta.
Boarve Konsult is a consultancy with more than 30 years of experience in the field of easy reading, accessibility and human rights. Boarve works to raise awareness about accessible information, increase knowledge about available information and promote human rights.
Puzzle SE Greece is a social enterprise founded by professionals from the fields of education, mental health, disability and social inclusion. Its aim is to empower vulnerable social groups and improve their quality of life.
The Cyprus Certification Company is a governmental certification body. CCC is active in the field of certification of persons according to ISO 17024 and certification of educational programmes and curricula.
Purpose of the project
The main objective of this project is to raise awareness about documents in EAL so that people with disabilities can make informed decisions that affect their daily lives.
The main activities of the project include:
- Conduct research on the importance of high-quality Easy Language documents and create a set of guidelines for the development of such documents.
- Development of 3 certified training modules for service providers on the use of the guidelines and the development of documents in Easy Language.
- Testing of the training modules through teacher training sessions both in Malta and in Greece.
Research
CRPD and Puzzle have conducted research on the importance of E-Language. This research is based on a qualitative methodology to identify the importance of having documents in high-quality Easy Language. Two surveys were conducted, one for people with disabilities and another for service providers.
CRPD managed to collect responses from 28 service providers, while Puzzle collected 20 responses. On the other hand, in the survey for people with intellectual disabilities, both CRPD and Puzzle SE collected responses from 10 people respectively.
Two reports were compiled, one with all the data collected from the service provider survey and another report with the data collected from the survey of people with intellectual disabilities.
The main conclusion that emerged from both surveys is the need to create training programmes for all staff in the development of documents in E-Language and to raise awareness of the importance of E-Language both in organisations and to the people served. The reports will be available on the CRPD website in the coming weeks.
Coming soon
Guidelines for the development of documents in Easy Language.
These guidelines are compiled by Boarve Konsult and are based on the findings and data from the survey. Stay tuned to the CRPD website (under "Ongoing Projects") to view them.
Training on documents in Easy Language will also be provided. This training will take place in January 2025. Stay tuned if you would like to register for this training.
