The Argentine Association of Parliamentary Stenographers (AATP) has agreed a national collaboration with Argentina’s oldest university to help provide subtitling and edited transcripts of virtually delivered classes.
Officially signed on 3 December, the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the agreement aims to ensure that education standards for students with disabilities at the National University of Córdoba (UNC) are not adversely affected by the movement towards more online learning – a trend greatly accelerated by the Covid pandemic.
Research revealed that students with disabilities among the UNC’s 140,000-strong student population had been encountering barriers to fully accessing and engaging with information and communication channels in the virtual environment. As a result of the collaboration, the AATP is now offering advice on communication technologies and co-ordinating a pool of volunteers to provide subtitled video packages with edited transcripts. Stenographers and subtitlers from all over the country have already volunteered to help produce these education materials and project founders hope the service will grow to benefit many more students.