The main target users are people with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD): persons with significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour in everyday social and practical skills, or with disabilities that can affect cognitive ability or physical functioning.
In Europe there are 1.5 – 2 million people with severe IDD and 3 – 3.7 million people with mild IDD, representing one of the most disadvantaged social groups in European countries, with very high levels of requirements for assistance often throughout every aspect of the individual’s existence and over the whole of the person’s life. Intellectual and developmental disabilities have no boundaries, they cut across the lines of racial, ethnic, educational, social and economic backgrounds, and can occur in any family. ICT tools can bring independence to users with IDD. However, the European Commission recognises that given the importance of ICT, the failure to access or use ICT increasingly constitutes a major form of social and economic exclusion.
A secondary but important target is software developers who will be enabled to use the new accessibility layer and software development kit (SDK) in existing and new software and apps.