ETIH Innovation Awards: Best Special Needs and Inclusion Solution shortlist revealed
A category shaped by inclusive design and real-world impact highlights how EdTech is supporting learners with additional needs and broadening access across education.
The ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 category spotlight series continues with a closer look at Best Special Needs and Inclusion Solution, following a strong response of more than 140 entries across this year’s awards.
This category recognizes platforms, products, and programs supporting students with special educational needs and those embedding inclusion across broader learning environments, with winners set to be announced on May 11.
Where inclusive design meets measurable impact
This category brings together solutions designed to address a wide range of learning barriers, from SEND-specific tools to platforms that build inclusive practices into mainstream education. Submissions span assistive technologies, adaptive learning systems, communication tools, and AI-driven personalization that responds to diverse student needs.
Judges are assessing how effectively these solutions translate inclusive intent into practice. This includes accessibility by design, ease of use in real classroom settings, and the ability to support both learners and educators without adding complexity to existing workflows.
There is also a clear focus on evidence. Strong entries demonstrate measurable outcomes such as improved engagement, independence, or progression, alongside adoption across different settings. At the same time, the category reflects a wider shift, where inclusion is not treated as a separate layer but integrated into how digital learning is built and delivered.
Finalists
CheckIT LMS is an AI-powered edtech ecosystem built to address student disengagement, reduce teacher overwhelm, and expand the role of AI beyond simple content automation. By merging neuroscience principles with advanced classroom management functionality, it helps create individualized learning experiences for K-12 students while simplifying lesson planning, scheduling, and grading for educators. With Cleo, a neuroscience-trained AI mentor, CheckIT LMS transforms decades of neuroscience research into actionable strategies, making learning meaningful, personal, and inspiring.
CheckIT LMS has a Responsibly Designed AI certification by Digital Promise and is committed to ensuring that technology honors children’s individuality and healthy brain development.
Tom Reynolds, a post-BA-diagnosed dyslexic and ‘Great British Entrepreneur of the Year’ finalist, is a passionate advocate for equitable and inclusive education. With over 20 years’ teaching and school leadership experience, Tom founded EdenFiftyOne - an award-winning technology platform deconstructing literacy into 51 universal skills. As a UK Education Advisor and university teacher-training lecturer, Tom bridges the gap between classroom practice and digital innovation. Central to the EdenFiftyOne platform and to Tom’s mission is ‘EFO’: a pedagogical AI assistant designed to democratize literacy skills education, providing teachers, leaders, learners, and parents with a technology-driven solution to level the literacy playing field.
EdTool is an AI-supported, all-in-one learning platform that helps schools and teachers with lesson creation, content delivery, assessment, and students’ progress monitoring in one environment.
Built by Learnetic on 20+ years of expertise across 350+ projects in 50+ countries, it enables teachers to create interactive lessons and tests from prompts, PDFs, or textbook photos, use 50,000+ ready-to-use STEM and SEN resources, assign, and analyze results in real time.
As a web-based platform, EdTool works across devices without additional infrastructure. Multilingual support, WCAG-ready templates, and scalable school deployment make it a practical platform for modern digital, interactive learning experiences.
First Alt, First Student’s alternative transportation division, provides safe, reliable, and inclusive alternative transportation for students with special needs, experiencing homelessness and/or qualifying for McKinney-Vento, or requiring out-of-district travel and hard-to-service trips. Leveraging a fleet of small-capacity vehicles including sedans, SUVs, minivans, and wheelchair vans, First Alt partners with local transportation providers to offer a seamless, cost-effective, and flexible solution. Supported by world-class training co-developed with leading Children’s hospitals and universities, First Alt ensures students travel in the least restrictive, most supportive environment possible. All First Alt drivers are trained to the same high standards of traditional yellow school bus drivers, ensuring they are fully prepared to support students with complex medical, behavioral, or accessibility needs. Whether operating a van or a small capacity vehicle, First Alt brings the same safety-first mindset to every trip.
Lumio is an interactive online learning platform trusted by over 1.3 million teachers worldwide. Powered by SMART Technologies' 35 years of education innovation, it brings together lesson delivery, collaboration, formative assessment, and personalised learning in one place so teachers can spend less time planning and more time with their students. From ready-made resources and AI-assisted lesson creation to real-time feedback and inclusive design, Lumio gives educators everything they need to engage every student on any device. Schools and districts choose Lumio because it simplifies the teaching experience without compromising depth, and delivers measurable impact on student engagement and outcomes.
UNOWA is a European EdTech leader dedicated to making inclusive education a global reality. Our flagship solution, MIKKO, is the world’s first full-cycle ecosystem designed specifically for children with special educational needs (SEN). Based on the "6 Domains of Development" framework, MIKKO integrates AI-powered diagnostics, specialized digital courses, and over 100 physical didactic tools. By digitizing international clinical standards like ABA and ADOS-2, we provide educators and parents with a clear, data backed roadmap for every child’s development. UNOWA ensures that no child is left behind by combining innovative technology with deep pedagogical expertise.
Explore the full shortlist
You can explore the full ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 shortlist to see the companies and platforms shaping this year’s awards. Winners will be announced on May 11.
