No 21, October 2025

This issue highlights the challenges related to digital accessibility and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in education. It stresses the need to adapt training to diverse learner profiles, whether in initial, continuing, or organizational contexts. Emphasis is placed on innovative and flexible pedagogical approaches that integrate digital tools to foster engagement, motivation, and perseverance. Implementing inclusive practices requires new professional skills for educational and institutional staff, raising questions about well-being at work and governance. This thematic issue brings together ten research articles, five practitioner contributions, and one critical debate. The research covers diverse contexts—schools, universities, educational organizations, national and international approaches—exploring varied methodologies and analyzing tensions between learner inclusion and staff support. Practitioner articles offer experiential perspectives from the field, showcasing strategies, sometimes improvised, to foster inclusion. Finally, the debate section examines blind spots in EDI and accessibility research, inviting us to go beyond assumptions. Overall, this issue offers a multidisciplinary framework for reflecting on 21st-century educational challenges.

This article analyzes the effects of pedagogical and digital transformations on teaching and research practices as well as on the professionalisation of teacher-researchers, based on a digital accessibility project funded within a governmental initiative. The study, grounded in a comprehensive approach and a thematic analysis of four teacher-researchers experience narratives, highlights the (trans)formations (Josso, 2011) generated by this transformative process. It draws on Self-Determination Theory (Deci et al., 2017) as well as a conception of academic work that articulates personal, impersonal, transpersonal, and interpersonal dimensions (Miossec & Clot, 2011). Findings show concrete pedagogical changes: scenario design, content clarification, hybridisation, and greater attention to digital accessibility. The project meets the need for autonomy and competence but responds ambivalently to the need for belonging. Despite strong individual commitment, institutional recognition remains limited, collective support scarce, and organizational tensions significant. These constraints hinder the dissemination of innovation and weaken the sustainability of intrinsic motivation. The article advocates for a systemic approach to professionalisation, integrating all dimensions of academic work in a holistic vision. It stresses the need for structural recognition digital accessibility structural recognition in teaching as a key lever for transforming higher education and research.

This article looks at the use of digital technology in schools in light of the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Through the implementation of educational differentiation, it examines the extent to which it is necessary to take into account the contributions and effects of digital technology in teaching. This study examines teaching practices in this area, particularly in the context of differentiating digital course materials. The literature review exposes the predominant place of diversity in education, the imperative need to take it into account, and the impact of teachers' practices in ensuring a certain degree of equity, notably through the implementation of pedagogical differentiation. Links are made with digital technology, notably by presenting some of its specific features and limitations, the inequalities it can create, which call for the use of appropriate theoretical models, and the consideration of learners' profiles. We will also examine course materials, a major vehicle for teaching, and the conditions imposed by the digital format on the development of usable and effective materials that do not introduce additional obstacles to learning. We will expose the trends in current practices at the time of the study and identify the obstacles to their further development. We will also highlight the complexity in differentiating digital course materials and the obstacles to their implementation.

Faced with the increasing digitalization of universities and the intermingling of their life spheres, students are investing in a variety of digital technologies without fully understanding their uses and effects. Seemingly neutral, the digitalization and interweaving of these socio-technical realities imply a set of tacit power relations and related efforts to structure their socio-technical system. Longitudinal ethnographic research exploring students’ management and use of digital technologies has enabled us to identify a typology of socio-technical tensions made of this technological intertwining of their realities and constraints. By examining digital labor as a potential source of indirect discrimination, the article aims to expose and describe the power relations experienced by the participants. By problematizing this blind spot in university digitalization regarding student realities, we will support the adopted sociocritical approach, explain the use of grounded theorizing methodology and reveal the profile of the interviewed students. The results will suggest a typology of all the tensions linked to the negotiation of the sociotechnical system, and the discussion will conclude with a reflection on the indirect systemic discriminations underpinning this tacit digital labor of contemporary students.

Following increasingly diverse student profiles, higher education institutions need to offer a continuum of support that enables them to be accessible to as many people as possible, while being tailored to each individual (Ebersold, 2024). In practice, this continuum depends on the articulation of three different conceptions of accessibility, making it an issue for the whole university community. A universal conception of accessibility takes the most vulnerable cases as its point of reference and makes the adaptating the university to diverse student profiles the means of preventing any need for further assistance. An integrated conception takes inequalities in students' situations into account and enables staff to offer support to prevent any breach of equality without calling into question teaching content. An express conception modifies the university environment on an ad hoc basis in the light of the difficulties likely to be caused by a health problem. This article complements previous research (Ebersold, 2012; 2017) with data collected from university staff and students with autism spectrum disorders as part of the Atypie Friendly project.

Misunderstandings between education and digital technology stem from a combination of factors, some concrete and others rooted in beliefs. On the one hand, the lack of resources - or the lack of initial and ongoing training - is an easily observable and measurable barrier. These findings, supported by various studies, show that despite numerous government initiatives, educational technology integration in schools remains imperfect. On the other hand, perceptions of digital education reinforce these difficulties. These perceptions need to be analyzed from a gender perspective, as the teaching workforce, which is predominantly female, contrasts sharply with the digital professions, where women represent only around 17%. The COVID-19 crisis in 2020, which forced teachers to adopt digital technology urgently without training or additional resources, challenged these representations. The aim of this article is to examine what remains of the gendered representations of digital technology. Two sets of data - 1054 questionnaires and 24 semi-structured interviews - allow us to examine the evolution of this relationship before and after the pandemic. While the questionnaires suggest that women have developed a more serene approach to digital technology in the aftermath of the pandemic, in the interviews, they find it difficult to declare themselves competent, in contrast to men, despite their established practices.

The use of action video games (AVGs) can provide significant benefits to dyslexic students by improving their concentration and reading speed. Furthermore, the addition of a proven rehabilitation method tailored to learners increases the effectiveness of reading skills transfer. We have developed a serious action video game (SAVG) aimed at increasing participants’ skills while maintaining a high level of motivation. Our artifact is evaluated on four key criteria: reading speed, error reduction, attention level, and motivation. Our experimental protocol, based on a multiple case study, integrates qualitative and quantitative data, revealing a notable improvement in the subjects’ reading skills. Maintaining a high level of motivation remains difficult.

This article explores how students' relationship with digital technology influences their learning practices in hybrid environments, framed within an approach that integrates principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Drawing on clinical didactic epistemology, the study examines two contrasting cases of learners enrolled in a hybrid master's program equipped with an innovative tool: the Private Workspace Generator (GENeSPRIT). This tool merges institutional and personal learning environments, emphasizing a learner-centered approach. Through a three-step methodology—the "already-there," the "test," and the "aftermath"—the study highlights tensions between inclusion, flexibility, and technological proficiency. While one student leverages digital tools to optimize their learning, the other faces obstacles due to a lack of familiarity with the tools, exacerbating feelings of isolation. The findings suggest heuristic pathways for creating more adaptive and inclusive learning environments, proposing didactic and technological levers to enhance learner accessibility and engagement in distance education.

In the context of the educational spaces and content necessary accessibility, we will begin by examining French legislative texts to identify certain contradictory requirements they contain. Then, we will consider the potential digital tools offer to the learning community within the framework of universal design for learning. We will examine whether these tools are recognized by teachers as resources that can improve the schooling conditions of students with disabilities. Since the support of professionals is an essential prerequisite for the implementation of these practices, we will also investigate their acceptance of the idea of universal pedagogical accessibility. Finally, the study of a corpus based on the responses of 516 education professionals to a survey will allow us to show that the integrative paradigm and the idea of a necessary response based on categorization (using medical criteria) regarding how to educate students with disabilities represent major obstacles to the implementation of pedagogical accessibility practices, notably through digital means.

The integration of immersive and hybrid technologies into design education is redefining pedagogical paradigms by introducing interactive environments that encourage a more intuitive understanding of complex concepts. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) offer new ways of learning, but their adoption raises challenges of accessibility and inclusion, calling the educational equity principles into question. Digital accessibility is not just a technical issue; it requires an inclusive approach that takes into account learner’s cognitive, sensory and cultural diversity. The study explores the impact of these technologies on design learning, hypothesizing that thoughtful integration, combined with inclusive pedagogical strategies, could improve educational effectiveness and democratize access to training. A mixed methodology was adopted, combining a quantitative survey of 65 teachers and 120 students from European and Tunisian design institutions, with qualitative interviews to identify the obstacles and levers for adaptation. The results highlight disparities in adopting these tools, underlining the need for methodological and ethical vigilance to ensure equitable appropriation of techno-pedagogical innovations and guarantee accessible, sustainable and inclusive learning.

The integration of digital technology in secondary education is now essential. However, not all students have the same dispositions toward digital tools, nor do they benefit equally from digital technologies. This disparity can be attributed, on the one hand, to differences in how teachers use technology and, on the other hand, to the diversity of students’ needs and preferences. This study aims to highlight the variety of secondary students’ needs and preferences regarding digital technology use, aligning with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). More specifically, it seeks to understand and explain which digital practices adopted by teachers foster learning and engagement for a wide range of students, considering their individual needs from an inclusive perspective. It aims to answer the following question: Which uses of digital technology support students’ learning and engagement in secondary school courses, considering the variations in learners’ needs and preferences? Carried out using a qualitative descriptive methodological design, this study draws on individual interviews with 17 teachers and 40 secondary school students from various grade levels and schools across Québec. The results are organized around the three main principles of UDL in view of highlighting digital practices and uses that can support learning and engagement for a wide range of students in secondary education from an inclusive perspective.

In the context of higher education in France, instructional designers can play a key role in implementing digital accessibility, which is essential to ensure more inclusive pedagogy. This article examines a degree-awarding training opportunity in digital accessibility for these professionals. The article is based on the training journeys of three instructional designers, who share their experiences in acquiring new skills in digital accessibility as well as the prospects offered by these new skills. Their testimonies illustrate how this training has influenced their professional development, by broadening their current responsibilities or facilitating transitions to new roles. Furthermore, the article explores the tensions between institutional and legal requirements and pedagogical challenges, as well as the need for these professionals to adapt to a constantly evolving field. Positioned at the intersection of multiple stakeholders, they must navigate technological transformations and new pedagogical practices induced by digital tools. It seeks to shed light on the challenges and opportunities associated with training in digital accessibility, while emphasizing the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration that can promote more inclusive pedagogy.

Twenty years after passing the 2005 law on equality and citizenship for people with disabilities, this article analyzes digital accessibility in higher education, particularly for students with specific learning disabilities. Drawing on the example of the University of Orléans, it highlights the progress made as well as the limitations of an often technocentric approach, illustrated by questionable choices. The article advocates for reasoned accessibility centered on user experience, taking individual needs into consideration. It underscores the tensions between generalized accessibility and targeted inclusion, calling for a complementary approach that balances individual accommodations and collective adaptations. Reconciliation lies in fostering inclusion education for all university stakeholders, avoiding specific profile invisibilization and ensuring equitable accessibility based on scientific evidence and human mediation.

Taking equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) into account in university teaching is often approached from two distinct perspectives: on the one hand, digital materials accessibility and, on the other, the transformation of teaching practices. This article looks at how the use of an editorial chain in resource production leads to pedagogical revision of materials and a reflective approach to making teaching accessible. The term ‘editorial chain’ covers tools that require a separation of content and form. The advantages and disadvantages of these tools are outlined in greater detail for the Scenari solution used in this study. Drawing on workshops carried out in videoconference or face-to-face with volunteer science teachers in different production contexts, we examine the difficulties and benefits of the chosen approach, which result in improvement and better student inclusion during teaching sessions.

In the context of inclusive education, this article presents the first step in exploring the potential of digital tools for inclusive teaching practices. Based on an interdisciplinary methodology such as the Delphi method, it develops an analysis tool aimed at assessing the relevance and limitations of digital tools in an inclusive context. By mobilizing heterogeneity as a collective resource, this study questions educational practices through a systemic approach that promotes interaction between actors and teachers’ progressive appropriation of tools.

This contribution presents a training course for trainers at the Institut français de l’Éducation (IFÉ-ENS Lyon) aimed at reflecting on assessment practices from an inclusion and equity perspective. The main aim of the course is to support teacher trainers, from nursery school to higher education, in developing more inclusive summative assessment practices by examining the principles of digital use and pedagogical differentiation. Current summative assessment practices often confront teachers with a professional dilemma: how to reconcile traditional conceptions of assessment based on equality with inclusive approaches based on equity (Yerly et al., 2024)? While digital technology is frequently perceived as an immediate response to the challenges of adapting learning, we choose to approach it from an inclusive perspective (Benoit et Feuilladieu, 2017). This contribution supports an approach that does not limit digital technology to a mere tool, but rather positions it as a tool in the service of an in-depth reflection on pedagogical objectives and barriers to learning. This approach is in line with Broad Curricular Alignment (Pasquini, 2019, 2021) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2024), which promote a systemic view of inclusion.

Generally, research related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) focuses on people with disabilities, ethnic or cultural minorities, and sexual or gender minorities. It follows in the tradition of initiatives that have progressively enabled women to take their place in society, expanding these efforts to include a broader range of underrepresented groups. Men who do not live with disabilities and who are not part of a minority group are therefore often overlooked in these studies. Yet, available data show that in higher education, they have not been the majority among students for quite some time. This highlights the need to examine what is happening earlier in the educational pathway, as academic delays and dropouts often begin in childhood. This invites us to question the potential role that certain technologies could play in supporting boys’ academic success. Additionally, we will see that income inequalities disadvantaging women may also help explain differences in the return on investment in higher education between men and women—underscoring the importance of considering the relationships between traditionally studied minority groups and others who may not appear marginalized at first glance.