Jamaica's 2022 pilot developed accessible digital storybooks tested in five schools—four for deaf, blind and intellectually disabled students. UNICEF's 10-country ADT programme; teachers reported higher engagement; Zero Project Award 2024 winner for inclusive education.
2,500+
Students reached across the 10-country ADT programme
66
ADT prototypes produced across the 10-country programme
5
Schools in the Jamaica pilot (Oct–Nov 2022)
Details
Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
UNICEF Jamaica / Ministry of Education and Youth Jamaica / BookFusion
Period
2022–2024
Keywords
inclusive education, digital textbooks, UDL, disability inclusion, primary education
Context
The Jamaica pilot (October–November 2022), led by UNICEF Jamaica, the Ministry of Education and Youth, and technology provider BookFusion, developed two AI-enhanced accessible digital storybooks under Universal Design for Learning principles and tested them in five schools serving deaf/hard-of-hearing, blind/low-vision, intellectually disabled and inclusive-classroom students, as part of a wider 10-country UNICEF Accessible Digital Textbooks programme.
Results
UNICEF Innocenti's 2023 research report found teachers and students showed enthusiasm and engagement during user testing, with teachers reporting lessons became more interactive and inclusive; no pre/post quantitative learning-gain scores were collected. The wider 10-country programme won the Zero Project Award 2024 for inclusive education.
Implementation
Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
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