CLUNL

On February 25, the iRead4Skills project — the first HORIZON Europe project coordinated by NOVA FCSH at the Centre of Linguistics of NOVA University Lisbon — brought together more than 400 participants at its final conference.

The event gathered professionals from institutions and research centres, educational institutions, and organisations promoting reading and literacy, including policy-making bodies, to discuss the importance of literacy among adults and its broader impact on society, and to reflect on the contribution of iRead4Skills to the development of these skills.

The main aim of the conference was to present the project’s results. The project developed new tools for analysing text complexity with the goal of promoting reading skills among adults. The conference also included testimonials from end users — including adult learners, education professionals, and publishers — who highlighted how these tools can support the promotion of literacy in real-world contexts.

The iRead4Skills tools, designed to support adults with low literacy levels as well as professionals in education, training, and culture in selecting appropriate reading materials, also assist in the creation and adaptation of written content so that it can be understood by people with different literacy levels:

• Complexity Assessment & Writing Assistant – tools that classify the complexity level of a text and identify linguistic features that may make it difficult to read.

• iRead4Skills App – a mobile application for easily classifying texts.

• iR4S Word Add-in – a plugin that can be used directly in Word to create more accessible texts.

• iR4S Titles Database – a list of books and other reading materials classified according to iRead4Skills complexity levels.

The tools, presented during the conference’s interactive demonstration session, are open access and are available in Portuguese, French, and Spanish on the project’s website (https://iread4skills.com/tools/).

In addition to presenting the technical and scientific work behind the tools, the interfaces developed in cooperation with end users, and the impact of the iRead4Skills project, the conference included contributions from the Vice-Rector for Pedagogical Innovation at NOVA University Lisbon, Prof. Manuela Aparício; Simone Rosini from the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission; Zoltán Várkonyi, President of the European Basic Skills Network; and Valentina Stoeva, President of EURead – European Reading Promotion and Literacy Network.

The iRead4Skills project is now concluding its implementation phase but will continue to work together with national and European partners and stakeholders to develop and provide responsible, scientifically grounded technology that contributes to promoting literacy and access to information and culture for the public.