The 2nd International ACCESS Conference and 5th Conference on Inclusive Technologies in Education (CONTIE-2022) took place from 25 to 27 October in San José, Costa Rica. Participants from Costa Rica, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Greece, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay attended in person or virtually as the conference was held in hybrid format.

The conference was opened by Mr. Andrés Sandoval Bringas, President of RITIE Network, Ms. María Teresa Hernández Jiménez, Vice Rector of Student Life and Academic Services, TEC of Costa Rica, Mr. Carlos Quesada Campos, Public Diplomacy and Press Officer, Delegation of the European Union in Costa Rica, Ms. Laura Valenzuela, Vice Rector of Institutional Development, CENFOTEC University, and Ms. Noelia López del Castillo, ACCESS Project Coordinator, University of Alicante. During the opening ceremony, the ACCESS Network formally signed the integration as a member of the International Network on Inclusive Technologies and Education (RITIE) with the aim of generating regional spaces to respond to common challenges, including increasing public awareness and understanding of inclusive education in the field of higher education.

One of the keynote lectures was given by Camila Delgado Agüero from the TEC of Costa Rica who presented a guide of good practices for the inclusion of students with total blindness in engineering careers. Lefkothea Kartasidou from the University of Macedonia in Greece, presented the Needs Analysis Report of students with disabilities developed in the framework of the ACCESS project. From the University of Alicante José María Fernández presented the website accessibility tracker-CADUA developed by the Digital Accessibility Unit and Sergi Soriano, Director of the Secretariat for Student Support and Employability, presented the Unidigital project.  Likewise, representatives from the University of Las Tunas in Cuba and the University of Ciego de Ávila made presentations on the accessibility of higher education for students with disabilities.

During the conference there were also round tables on inclusive tourism and sport and a coffee-table, an open and networking format in which ACCESS Network partners presented good practices, projects, services and issues related to accessibility, disability and education. On 28 October the ACCESS consortium held its coordination meeting which focused on resolving doubts and planning the next activities of the project.

ACCESS/“Promoting Accessibility of Students with Disability to Higher Education in Cuba, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic” is an Erasmus+ Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices: Capacity-building in higher education, co-funded by the European Commission. The overall objective of the ACCESS project is to improve accessibility, ensure learning conditions and foster policy change towards inclusion for students with disabilities within the context of the Higher Education system in Costa Rica, Cuba and Dominican Republic via modern inclusion practices, training and networking.