The Catalonia Innovation Network on Accessibility: Media, Education and Culture (AccessCat Network) was established in 2023 with 12 research groups from 8 institutions, bringing together 175 researchers. Its goal was to work towards becoming a benchmark in knowledge transfer on accessibility to information and communication, initially over a three-year period.

Since its ambitious inception, the network has continued to grow and establish itself as a key actor in the ecosystem. For this reason, the Government of Catalonia has renewed its support for the 2026–2028 period and included the network in the call for R&D&I network grants to implement programs for the valorisation and transfer of research results (XARDI). 

AccessCat starts this new stage with an expanded and renewed structure:

• 22 research groups from 11 institutions, with 312 researchers.
• 6 corporate entities, each with a defined role to contribute to the network’s objectives.
• 80 affiliate entities, ranging from institutions to companies and third sector organisations, seeing the network as an opportunity to have direct contact with researchers, universities, and research centres.

All these actors will play a key role in enabling the network to carry out its activities over the next three years.

The AccessCat catalogue

One of the network’s main objectives is to catalogue the products and services generated by its research groups. In other words, to bring together in a single place all technologies, services, and educational resources on accessibility to information and communication. You can explore them in the AccessCat catalogue.

Currently, the network has identified 10 technologies, 22 services, and 35 online educational open-access resources. This number will grow in early 2026 with the addition of items from the latest groups joining AccessCat.

Network activities

Over the past three years, AccessCat’s activity agenda has been vibrant. It has funded, organised, and coordinated hundreds of awareness and transfer activities, international missions, participation in high-level documents and standards, demonstrations and showcases, and internal and external training:

• 17 internal training sessions with 157 participants and more than 24 total hours. Highlights include 7 proposals submitted to the AGAUR Knowledge Industry programme and 6 proposals to AGAUR’s IMPACTE grants, with a success rate of nearly 50%.
• 27 external training sessions with 521 attendees, conducted by 15 researcher-speakers from 10 research groups. Check the AccessCat Training Capsules.
• 3 funded disruptive solutions: one received a Seed grant and another a Product grant (AGAUR Knowledge Industry programme).
• 108 awareness and transfer activities, 18 international missions, and 19 participations in standardisation documents.
• 37 demonstrations of technologies, services, and resources at fairs, conferences, and other public events.
• Funding for guides and best practice recommendations in accessibility, created by network researchers, such as the AccessCat decalogue on accessibility to street art and the Infographic "More Accessible Museums and Heritage".
• Publication of guidelines for organising accessible events, a transparency exercise based on AccessCat researchers’ recommendations.

References in Social Sciences and Humanities transfer

Xarxa AccessCat has been a pioneer within the Catalan network ecosystem. One of the most notable aspects is that it is the first network structured in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). One challenge has been to identify good transfer practices in SSH and discuss how to measure social impact. Key achievements include:

• Organising an event in Social Sciences and Humanities knowledge transfer that gathered authorities, experts, and key agents.
• Participating in events specifically focused on valorisation in SSH.
• Featuring AccessCat as an example of good practice in the European Commission’s Knowledge Valorisation Platform.

This work remains highly relevant in AccessCat’s strategic plan for 2026–2028.