The call for applications under the "Accessibility as a Chance for Development 3" competition financed by the European Funds for Social Development 2021-2027 (FERS) is launched. The programme is aimed at entities that aim to improve the accessibility and universal design of goods and services for people with special needs, including people with disabilities.

Objectives of the call and formal requirements

The main objective of the call "Accessibility as an opportunity for development 3" is to support projects that increase awareness and competence in the field of accessibility, including universal design. The project is to show entrepreneurs that the introduction of such solutions will provide people with special needs with greater self-reliance and independence, and thus better functioning in society, and as a result, greater demand for services or products that meet accessibility standards.

Examples of products that follow the principles of universal design include:

• handles for left and right handers;
• the website of the online store that allows you to increase the contrast and enlarge the font or read the content;
• large and easy to distinguish by sight or touch buttons in devices such as elevators, telephones, ATMs;
• sliding doors in shops, etc.

The call for proposals "Accessibility as an opportunity for development 3" assumes the implementation of training and consulting services for entrepreneurs interested in expanding their offer with this type of products or services.

The project is open to, m.in, entrepreneurs, organizations working for employment or economic development, as well as universities and social partners. It is crucial that the applicants have the human, economic and technical potential as well as the experience necessary to implement a training and consulting project in the area of accessibility.

As part of the project, it will be possible to choose the training path:

• the option consisting in participation in general and specialist training and counselling directly related to the subject of the training, or
• A variant of consulting intended for entrepreneurs who have basic knowledge in the field of accessibility and need to discuss specific cases regarding the universal design of products or services that result from the type of business activity they conduct.

PARP, thanks to the funds from the European Funds for Social Development, offers co-financing of up to 100% of the project costs, with the maximum value of a single project amounting to PLN 11,428,571. The total pool of funds available in the call is PLN 80 million.

Applications should be submitted from 10 to 24 June 2024 at 10:00 a.m. via the SOWA ESF application.

Source: Parp.