Our project was developed in partnership with organisations from Germany, Portugal, Turkey, Italy and Sweden. We did our part to lift the barriers facing deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who wanted to become a cook or chef, receive vocational training in cooking, or who were already working as professionals and wanted to improve their skills.

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The main objective of our project was to develop a fully accessible, completely free distance learning programme for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals at risk of social exclusion. They were able to use the programme free of charge, whenever and wherever they wanted. We believe it set a good example for similar work going forward. Now that our project is complete, our target audience has a useful tool in hand to help lift the economic, social, geographical and cultural barriers they encounter in vocational education — the obstacles created by education and training systems that were not designed with their needs fully in mind.

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While developing the curriculum, each partner first examined the culinary/cooking education curriculum currently in use in their own country. Using the collective knowledge, interaction and experience gathered among the partners, we developed a shared curriculum inspired by and drawn from four different countries. The distance learning materials and the assessment and evaluation tools used in the programme were prepared with each country's sign language and special education pedagogy in mind, and all materials and tools include subtitles. We also developed a culinary/cooking terminology sign language dictionary to support the language and vocational skills of deaf and hard-of-hearing cooks and chefs.

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1. We developed a distance learning system that deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals can use in their vocational education and training. The system meets the SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) standard and includes assessment and evaluation.

2. We developed a curriculum covering the vocational and educational skills needed to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people become a cook or chef, or improve their existing skills, opening up new employment opportunities at home and abroad.

3. We developed a distance learning model that is fully accessible, free of charge and effective for inclusive education — one that creates opportunities for lifelong learning, skills development and personal satisfaction.

4. We produced distance learning content, a curriculum and modules in the native language of deaf and hard-of-hearing people: the sign language used in their own country.

5. We developed a culinary/cooking terminology dictionary in the sign language of each partner country, contributing to the language and vocational skills of deaf and hard-of-hearing people. No such study had been carried out before, making this a first in its field.

6. We contributed to digital transformation in accessible and inclusive vocational education by building cooperation, consultation, interaction and experience-sharing among organisations with expertise in their fields, both within and beyond the EU.

7. We set out the development stages of a distance vocational education system for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, so that it can serve as a good example for similar work in the future.

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