Social inclusion can be described as the process of ensuring that everyone has the ability and opportunity to take part in society. This may be achieved by reducing inequality and promoting active citizenship through access to education, employment, services, and decision-making. Historically, the term became popular in the latter part of the 20th century, during a time of campaigns for civil rights, gender equality, and social justice.
Assessing social inclusion through a modern lens, we must consider what our society now looks like, and what true inclusion means in today’s world. In living memory, we’ve witnessed incredible advances in technology in a relatively short space of time, leading to daily living norms that would be unrecognisable even 1-2 generations ago. We now live in a digital age, and only those of us born before the 1990’s are old enough to have experienced a fully analogue childhood.
While, thankfully, we can still interact and communicate with one another face to face, a large amount of our daily tasks is now completed through digital means. In other words, we are benefiting from a ‘hybrid living’ experience, moving between the two in an apparently seamless fashion. The advantages are many; time and cost saving, convenience, accuracy, connection, information etc. Living a hybrid life is something we have now come to expect. Indeed, a recent employment and workforce survey from Hays reports that 50% of professionals would not consider accepting a job that did not offer hybrid working.
But what of the negative consequences, whether intentional or unforeseen? As an increasing number of services exist solely in digital formats, we are steadily losing choice as to how we interact with and avail of them.
Many products and services are now ‘online only’. The Irish government’s Digital Public Services Plan has set a target for 90% of public services to be accessed digitally by 2030, an ambitious goal that warrants careful consideration to ensure access to public services remains accessible to all.
ConnectAbility: bridging the gap between social and digital inclusion
The ConnectAbility project is responding to this challenge by placing digital inclusion at the heart of service innovation. This two-year initiative seeks to explore and enhance the capability for adult disability services to provide online or Virtual Services to the people they support. It will alsoproduce a replicable framework that can be shared across HSE-funded day services.
Rather than replacing face-to-face services, the project seeks to build the capacity for Virtual Services as a complementary support model that expands opportunities, increases flexibility, and strengthens choice for people using services.
At its core, the project recognises that meaningful inclusion in modern society requires meaningful digital inclusion. Virtual Services can expand opportunities that traditional service models cannot always provide.
This may include reducing transport and geographical barriers, maintaining engagement during service disruptions, increasing access to learning opportunities, and enabling greater choice and control over how people choose to engage with supports
Embedding digital inclusion within service delivery helps to ensure that people can participate more fully in both their local communities and the wider digital world.
For people with intellectual disabilities and neurodivergent people in particular, digital participation can be hampered by barriers such as difficulties processing written information, sensory overload from complex digital environments, confusing navigation and unclear instructions, or challenges with planning, organisation, and executive functioning.
These barriers can affect participation in education, employment, healthcare, social activities, and community life.
The Role of Assistive Technology
Technology alone does not create inclusion. The technology must be accessible, usable, and adaptable to individual needs. This may look like dedicated hardware such as adapted keyboards or mice, learning aids such as reading pens, or assistive software such as screen readers.
Thankfully, many technology manufacturers now embrace Universal Design, an approach that creates products and environments that can be used by as many people as possible, regardless of ability and without the need for specialised adaptations. As a result, mainstream software, devices, and digital platforms increasingly include built-in accessibility features and settings.
A resource developed by the ConnectAbility team – Assistive Technology for Digital Inclusion – brings together practical examples of assistive technologies, accessibility tools, apps, guides, and supports that can help neurodivergent or intellectually disabled people overcome barriers to digital participation.
In a truly accessible society, there would be no need for accessible add-ons or assistive devices, but this reality may be a long way off. The concept of universal design is growing, and we can only hope that it will herald new ways of thinking about designing and creating products and services that cater for all needs as standard.
Our shift to hybrid living practices shows no sign of diminishing and these practices must be available to all. Those who experience digital exclusion will be significantly disadvantaged when it comes to availing of public and private services, education, employment, and health and wellbeing. Assistive technology and supports can mean the difference between having access to these services or being excluded from them.
While these developments represent important progress, it is equally important to recognise that analogue (non-digital) services will always play a vital role. Digital channels are not always suitable for every individual or every situation. Even for those who routinely engage in digital environments, access to human connection, face‑to‑face interaction, and in‑person support remains essential.
Ultimately, people with disabilities have a fundamental right to determine how they access support, information, and services. Ensuring that these options are available in inclusive, accessible formats, both digital and non-digital, is not only a matter of good practice but a core ethical obligation and a broader social responsibility.