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The Institute for Computer Systems Engineering: Research and Development (INESC-ID), in Lisbon, is a member of the iRead4Skills project consortium, funded by the European Union (HORIZON-CL2-2022-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-07).

Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions:

What are your current duties?

At INESC-ID Lisboa, our team works on the development of technologies that help improve the reading and comprehension of texts. In particular, we focus on analysing textual complexity in Portuguese, using artificial intelligence and natural language processing. Our goal is to create tools that help adults with different levels of literacy to find texts suited to their skills, promoting more accessible and effective learning.

What is INESC-ID doing in the iRead4Skills project?

INESC-ID Lisboa plays an essential role in the technological component of the iRead4Skills project. We work on creating automatic methods to assess the difficulty of texts and suggest adaptations to make them more accessible. We use artificial intelligence to analyse factors such as vocabulary, sentence structure and speech organisation, ensuring that the recommended texts are appropriate to the user’s reading level.

What has it been like working with the other members of the Consortium, from different geocultural and national backgrounds?

The iRead4Skills consortium is extremely enriching, as it brings together experts from different fields and countries, each bringing their own perspective on literacy and teaching. This diversity allows us to develop solutions adapted to various languages and contexts, ensuring that the technology created can be applied more widely and inclusively.

How can the project help to improve the literacies of low- and medium-educated adults in different languages?

The iRead4Skills project offers an innovative platform that suggests texts tailored to each user’s reading level. By enabling adults in the process of learning to access materials suited to their understanding, we promote literacy development in a gradual way that is adapted to their needs. What’s more, the tool works in several languages, making it useful for diverse linguistic communities.

Can you define the project in three words?

Accessibility, innovation, inclusion.

Source: https://epale.ec.europa.eu/pt/blog/iread4skills-entrevista-com-equipa-do-inesc-id-portugal