Hi Barbara

Web2Access is a very good starting point - https://web2access.org.uk/

 

Bear in mind that keeping a resource like that up to date is no mean feat but even if the results are a bit dated in some cases, the test scripts are provided and well described so you can run your own checks if needed.

 

Alistair

 

 

 

One of the areas that I don’t know much about is the accessibility of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapshot. I think what we need is not just WCAG 2.1 explained, but also usability – so what are the down side of using social media e.g. Facebook for particulate types of communication and what do they work well for, given people may find reading difficult.

 

Barbara

 

 

I would interested in supporting the working group. There has been some chatter about the regulations on a HE-digital forum and the IT staff are starting to become aware of what this involves (and are concerned).

 

We are about to start updating our Web2Access tool to that we host at Southampton (https://web2access.org.uk/) to align it to the regulations. Web2Access was originally designed to walk academics and learning technologists through simple accessibility checks. But it can be used for any type of site or resource. We feel this platform could help HE staff do quick checks on their systems and resources and are considering where we can combine it with some automatic checks. It would be great to hear from people about what sort of accessibility checking process and tools they feel to need as we can feed that into our project.

 

Best wishes

 

Abi

 

 

Dr Abi James
Research Fellow, Accessibility Team, WAIS, ECS, University of Southampton

Chair, BDA New Technologies Committee

Consultant, Assistive Learning Ltd

 

 

 

 

Hi Ben,

 

The working group sounds really interesting and we would certainly be interested in being involved at Derby.

 

We have only tentatively started to raise these regulations with colleagues and so far we have had a similar reaction where although staff are supportive they are unsure what they are required to do to meet these standards. I think this is in part because the standards themselves (WCAG 2.1 AA) are not easy to decipher for those who are not in technical roles at the institution. We have a collection of guidance materials which set out best practice when making presentations, documents, audio and video accessible but linking these to the standards feels more difficult to do.

 

Thanks

Laura

 

Laura Hollinshead
Learning Technologist (Curriculum Development)
Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
University of Derby
Kedleston Road
Derby
DE22 1GB
T: 01332 591635 E: [log in to unmask]   

www.derby.ac.uk/tel 

 

 

 

 

 

Sensitivity: Internal

 

Dear all

 

I also wanted to thank Robert for setting up the list which will be a really helpful forum for us to share ideas and good practice. I think the Accessible VLEs report is an excellent summary of where we are and where we should be going and that it is a very positive and exciting time to be working in Higher Education (HE) accessibility circles.

 

In answer to Robert’s question:

 

• Have you raised the regulations with colleagues, and what’s the biggest question you get from them? 

 

• Yes, we have started to do this and the response has been really good. The general feeling is that it is helpful to have a guiding light to further consolidate the drive to make things accessible but that people would like to know more about what it means to them specifically, given that a wide range of people across an institution will play important roles in making a website and its contents accessible.

 

With that in mind, I would be very interested to hear from anyone who would be interested in being part of a working group looking at the EU Accessibility Directive and associated guidance in order to coordinate our efforts, limit the duplication of work and gently begin to generate a consistency of approach wherever possible.

 

Best regards

Ben

 

Ben Watson

University of Kent

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Digital accessibility regulations for education [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Abi James
Sent: 25 September 2018 08:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: And we're off!

 

Thank you Robert for setting up this list!

 

The cabinet office updated their guidance page yesterday - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-requirements-for-public-sector-websites-and-apps to be much more specific about the requirements of the regulations. While some of it is specific to government and local government organisations, I think it is very useful for FE and HE staff and managers as an authoritive source of information.

 

Also, if you have staff who need to be get up to speed on web accessibility and assistive technology, our free online digital accessibility course starts again on 8th October. You can sign up at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/digital-accessibility .

 

Regards

 

Abi

 

 

 

Dr Abi James

Research Fellow, Accessibility Team, WAIS, ECS, University of Southampton Chair, BDA New Technologies Committee Consultant, Assistive Learning Ltd

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Digital accessibility regulations for education <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Rober Mclaren

Sent: 24 September 2018 09:14

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: And we're off!

 

Good morning everyone!

 

I'm Robert, and I work on accessibility policy for Policy Connect. This is a JiscMail for those interested in the new digital accessibility regulations and what they mean for online and blended learning. Thanks for joining the list!

 

We want this to be a space to ask questions, and share information and examples of good practice. To start with I wanted to share some key links and than pose a question. First the links:

 

 

Report:

 

- Policy Connect report on Accessible VLEs http://bit.ly/2wVAS3O  

 

- Wonkhe article about the report: http://bit.ly/2PZ1NDP

 

Blogs:

 

- Jisc: http://bit.ly/2Do3iKf

- University of Southampton: http://bit.ly/2OLSGGB

- Bristol Law School: http://bit.ly/2zqtuQK

- NUS: http://bit.ly/2QRgA4O

 

Government / EU

 

- Government guidelines (due to be updated shortly): http://bit.ly/2NxnaPU

- Accessibility standard used for the regulations: http://bit.ly/2QV520h

- Draft model accessibility statement: http://bit.ly/2O4PzfL 

 

 

Question:

 

Have you raised the regulations with colleagues, and what’s the biggest question you get from them? 

 

Thanks everyone,

Best,

Robert

 

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