ICTs and learning disability: multidisciplinary perspectives on Project @pple Peter Williams The Rix Centre, University of East London, London, UK Karen Bunning Speech and Language Therapy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, and Helen Kennedy New Media Studies, University of East London, London, UK Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to present a critical discussion of theoretical concepts that drive the main contributions of the academic partners, by highlighting the contrasting perspectives and identifying areas of commonality. Design/methodology/approach – The paper follows a contextualised approach to debating the issues of access and participation for people with ID in learning environments. Each discipline considers the user of ICT within a social context but draws on the theoretical domains and published literature associated with its own area. Findings – Resonances are to be found across the academic disciplines in terms of an ecological or holistic view of the person with ID as a user of a learning environment. This is what binds the multi-disciplinary perspective together. Originality/value – This paper is a rare attempt to integrate three distinct academic disciplines to provide a coherent picture of the theoretical perspectives underpinning research by the authors into the development and use of an ICT system for people with learning difficulties. Keywords Learning organizations, Learning disabilities, Communication skills, Communication technologies Paper type Research paper Introduction: Project @pple Project @pple (Accessibility and Participation for People with Learning Disabilities)[1] is a cross-disciplinary initiative led by The Rix Centre for Innovation and Learning Disability at the University of East London, which brings together researchers from a number of academic fields with multimedia producers from small and corporate businesses and the UK’s leading learning disability charity, MENCAP. Project @pple aims to explore and evaluate, from a cross-disciplinary perspective, the terms on which people with learning disabilities can access and participate in the range of opportunities presented by information and communication technologies (ICTs). The project is funded by the ESRC, EPSRC and DTI’s PACCIT programme (“People at the Centre of Communication and Information Technology”). To meet the aim of digital inclusion for learning disabilities, a learning environment (LE), providing educational resources and tools for self-advocacy to match the requirements of the widest possible spectrum of users with learning disabilities, has The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0001-253X.htm ICTs and learning disability 97 Received 15 March 2006 Revised 3 May 2006 Accepted 3 June 2006 Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives Vol. 59 No. 1, 2007 pp. 97-112 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0001-253X DOI 10.1108/00012530710725232