Unlocking Potential Sue Harrison / Alistair McNaught TechDis is a service of, the Joint Information Systems Committee Accessibility..whose responsibility

Unlocking PotentialSue Harrison / Alistair McNaught

TechDis is a service of , the Joint Information Systems Committee

Accessibility

..whose responsibility is it?



This is the learningassistant who’d helpif shecould with a nice yellow filter but can’t do much else ‘cos she’s scared of PCs

This is the tutor who sets an assignment without writing it down ‘cos he mistimed the lesson.

This is the learner who wants to do well but doesn’t quite know what she’s supposed to be doing because her dyslexia makes writing much slower.

This is the librarian who’s fed up explaining the wonders of Dewey to girls who glaze over and then want to Google.

This is the PC which takes her to Google then on to great pages with screenloads of writing she finds hard to read.

This is the man who looks after computersbut won’t install software that complicates systems

This is the tutor who marks the assignment. It isn’t much good, but Jane’s “not very able..”

And the tutor’s notes were on the VLE

but he forgot to say..



Learner’s sphere of influence SMT

Governors

IT team

Staff development

Quality team

Tutor / lecturer / teacher

Learning support

Library/ LRC

Learner

The learner experiences PRACTICE informed by TRAINING and mediated by CULTURE.



Sample tensionsKnown Unknown

Teacher Traditional approaches New pedagogies and technologies

LRC/Library Paper based content Online collections and assistive technologies

Learner support

1:1 support, specific experience

E-learning advice, partnership and empowerment

IT support System security User preferences and needs

Staff development

CLAIT, ECDL Accessibility essentials, e-learning advantages



Sample solutions

• Managing learner expectations

• Specifically evaluating user experiences

• Training staff in cross institutional contexts

• Providing effective routeways of communication

• Capitalising on a wide range of already available resources



Expectation / anticipation

• Accessibility statements– What are the main strategies in place?– What are their responsibilities? What are yours?– How have you arrived at decisions?– Who should they contact if there are problems?



Evaluation

• Assistive technologies– How effective are the “solutions”?– Can you track usage rates?– Do they need additional training?– Do you need additional training? – Can the user suggest improvements or alternatives?

• End of year evaluations– Include accessibility issues and student suggestions

for improvement.



Training

• Staff awareness– Training on disabilities and strategies.– Background training in disability / learning related issues, for

example TechDis staff training packs.

• Staff IT training – Built in features of Office and Windows (see wide range of

TechDis resources)– Training on key points of specific packages eg text to speech,

text to MP3, word prediction, assistive technologies.

• Visits– Borrowing ideas– Playing with other people’s solutions– Liasing with Regional Support Centre team and AT box.



Communication structures

• Provide route ways – Create opportunities for different stakeholders to

communicate.

• Provide a forum – Let disabled learners to contribute to decision

making processes.

• Document & communicate– Note and file key discussions and decisions.– Outcomes of discussions to the relevant

stakeholders.



Resources

• Acquiring, evaluating, disseminating

• Adapting

• Signposting– By level– By media– By accessibility pros and cons

• Making – simple D.I.Y approaches



Conclusion

• Accessibility belongs to all• Accessible practice is often existing best

practice• Accessibility guidance needs to be role

related – for example teachers need different guidance than web developers or librarians.

• The TechDis website (www.techdis.ac.uk), staff packs and accessibility essentials packs provide pragmatic starting points for different roles.

Documents

Unlocking Potential Sue Harrison / Alistair McNaught TechDis is a service of, the Joint Information Systems Committee Accessibility..whose responsibility