Fundación ONCE starts this Monday, May 12, the ‘Madrid Accessibility Week’ (MAW), an initiative of the Online Master’s Degree in Accessibility for Smart City developed by the University of Jaén in collaboration with this foundation, taking place in the capital of Spain until May 16 and focusing on talent.
Under the motto ‘Talent = (Knowledge + values + attitudes) X Accessibility’, the eleventh edition of the MAW will be held at the ‘Por Talento Digital’ headquarters of Fundación ONCE, a meeting point for students, teachers, and experts related to accessibility and design for all people and a place for students of the master’s program to practice.
Thus, students will attend conferences, participate in workshops, and make visits of interest designed to help them generate a comprehensive view of accessibility. Therefore, the organizers believe that topics such as the ‘Challenges of inclusive policies in Spain’, the ‘Empowerment of disability from a gender perspective’, or how to lead as a leader should be discussed, all of which will be the focus of the conferences on the first day of MAW 2025.
As a complement to these talks, students will participate in workshops throughout the week that will focus on aspects such as talent, which «does not understand differences», or on leadership and how it is built.
The ‘Madrid Accessibility Week’ will also include complementary activities such as a blind dinner for participants to experience the enjoyment of food without the sense of sight, putting themselves in the shoes of people with visual disabilities.
Furthermore, on Wednesday, May 14, the event will be organized by AccessibleEU, the European Accessibility Center launched by a consortium of entities led by Fundación ONCE and established in 2022 to promote accessibility in the European Union. During this day, students will be able to attend a debate on the transposition of the European Accessibility Act into Spanish law and reflect on aspects such as the main achievements so far or the «transformative changes» that the law will bring.
Targeted at national authorities, the private sector, representatives of civil society, accessibility experts, and researchers, the event will feature an intervention from the ministry responsible for overseeing the implementation of the European accessibility law in Spain and four thematic panels corresponding to the four main areas of AccessibleEU: built environment, transportation, ICT, and public procurement.
MAW 2025 will conclude, as in each edition, with the presentation of works by students who will have had the opportunity to learn throughout the week about aspects related to accessibility, both from the perspective of product and service designers and the users themselves.
FUENTE