Easy Reading - Keeping the User at the Digital Original: Assessment and Potential Use of Easy Reading for Digital Accessibility

Digital access is essential to participation and everyday life in our digitized society and education [1]. Various laws and guidelines (e.g., UN-CRPD, WCAG) underline the importance of accessibility of newinformation and communication technologies and the Internet for independent living and full participation of people with disabilities. However, people with disabilities are often excluded from digital participation due to a lack of accessible websites, assistive technologies, and media literacy [2, 3]. Thus, strategies are needed to overcome these digital barriers [4]. In the "EVE4all - Easy understanding for all" project, Easy Reading, a digital software framework that helps users overcome digital barriers, is validated. Easy Reading enables users to individualize websites according to their special needs [5, 6]. Easy Reading was tested for a period of two and a half years (April 2020 to September 2022) by students at TU Dortmund University, aiming to identify the added value of the functions in Easy Reading and to collect more application possibilities and ideas for further adjustments of the software. The students assessed Easy Reading as a helpful tool with many potentials for usage in various contexts. Furthermore, additional target groups are identified, such as early readers.