The use of EasyReading font is getting more and more universal. Vodafone Italia Foundation decided to use it within LV8 (Level8), a new app to involve young people neither studying or working, the so called Neet (Not in Education, Employment or Training), into a digital training path. After being used in cultural, editorial contexts and not only, the font has been chosen to increase the operating range of a far-reaching communication, even more important at a historical moment like the one we are experiencing. LV8, available for free on App Store, Google Play and on www.lv8.eu, has fully been writed by using the font that, according to several scientific reaserch, makes reading easier to dyslexics and faster to others.
In Italy, first country in Europe in term of incidence, the phenomenon of Neet has affected over 2 million of young people in 2020. Closely related to the early school quitting and to the difficulty of finding a job, the phenomenon has also grown as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic: young people are among the most vulnerable because they feel left out by society, remaining exposed to a greater risk of depression. The digital skills’ building, therefore, becomes the key to go back to having an active role in society. That is the reason why Fondazione Vodafone has agreed to invest in a training project thanks to tecnology. The LV8 is a digital, practical and accessible opportunity, which is also suitable for people with dyslexia, thanks to the use of Easyreading.
“We have created an edugame open to all but especially designed for children who are not studying or working, so that they can acquire basic digital skills increasingly required by companies and can thus return to play an active role in work and society in general – says Adriana Versino, Managing Director of Fondazione Vodafone Italia -. Our goal was to make LV8 accessible to all and the contribution of the partner Easyreading was essential to succeed: it provided us with a special font designed to facilitate the reading of people with learning difficulties. In this way everyone can really learn, having fun, something more about the digital world. No one excluded”.
“We can only be very excited about this news” said font designer Federico Alfonsetti. “Knowing that our font has been chosen by a company like Fondazione Vodafone for a project, of a such social dimension, dedicated to young people can only make us proud”.
LV8 is a “learning game” allowing one to acquire, through a videogame experience, basic digital knowledge and some applications. With the overcoming of 8 levels of increasing difficulty and a variety of challenges, LV8 provides for the release of 3 Open Badges, digital certifications on blockchain that can be included in the curriculum vitae. The skills gained – use of Google and its applications Google Workspace, Canva to create graphics and posts, SEO bases, Social Media Strategy bases, Google Sheets, introduction to CMS, introduction to HTML coding and more – are defined within Digcomp 2.1, the European framework of digital skills.
Self-assessment tests are also provided at level 8 so that young can understand their capability, and free courses to further deepen the digital skills and other opportunities promoted by LV8 partners can be accessed: Fondazione Cariplo, Binario F from Facebook, Generation Italy – founded by Mckinsey & Company, Google and Repubblica Digitale.
The path pursued by EasyReading, in the direction of providing easier access to information (useful) to a wider target of people, goes on.
Even at this juncture, thanks to the partnership with this important player.