Objectives

The Núcleo de Apoio à Inclusão Digital | NAID is a specialised resource centre of the Escola Superior de Educação do Politécnico do Porto that aims to disseminate and promote the use of technologies as a way of enhancing the activity and participation of people with special needs. It carries out activities involving the dissemination and transfer of knowledge, functional assessment, support and training and research, from a multidisciplinary perspective involving professionals from various fields.

The NAID has a wide range of equipment and facilitating devices designed to improve functionality and reduce disability, with the aim of enabling people to perform activities and participate in learning, professional and social life. Initially conceived to provide specialised support in educational contexts, the NAID has become increasingly eclectic and has broadened the scope of its intervention to areas it considers to be priorities:

• Supporting polytechnic higher education students (P.Porto);
• Promoting the socio-professional integration of citizens with disabilities through direct or indirect support for end users in technical aids or assistive technologies;
• Accompanying disadvantaged social groups;
• Providing functional support in assistive technologies for children with special educational needs;
• Organising activities to raise awareness of the problem of info-exclusion;
• Carrying out research into professional integration for disabled citizens and intervention with socially disadvantaged populations. 

Space description

The NAID has an area of 50 m2 and capacity for 20 students. The space is adapted to the different functional regimes, either as a training space or as a support or functional assessment space.

Description of the main equipment

General equipment

Technical equipment: Braille line, PacMate, Braille printer, screen reader (NVDA), various software for the blind and people with low vision, etc. Products for activities of daily living, orientation and mobility, augmentative and alternative communication, etc. Adapted educational resources and sensory development kits. Mini maker space for building personalised solutions with 3-Printing and prototyping electronics

Functionality/functioning of the equipment

The equipment is aimed almost exclusively at people with disabilities and demonstrations and training for the various educational agents who use the space.

Main Projects

SOULSS - Scaffolding Online University Learning: Support Systems | InED (ipp.pt)

SUCCESS - Supporting success for all – Universal Design Principles in Digital Learning for students with disabilities | InED (ipp.pt)

Contact person

Rui Teles (rteles@ese.ipp.pt)

Pedro Rodrigues (pedrorodrigues@ese.ipp.pt)

Miguel Santos (migsantos@ese.ipp.pt)