April 10, 2023 1
Accessibility as everyday good practice - understanding attitudes
Sarah Horrigan, eLearning Developer
Marek Oledzki, Learning Technologist
April 2009
April 10, 2023 2
Accessibility might be said to be about…
1. Making changes on request
2. Accommodating disabled students’ needs
3. Giving people access
4. Providing things in more than one format
5. Widening participation
6. Meeting legal requirements
April 10, 2023 3
Sounds simple!
April 10, 2023 4
What’s the problem?
April 10, 2023 5
There’s a huge gap between knowing about accessibility and
acting on that knowledge
April 10, 2023 6
If we know accessibility is an important issue…why do we
do so little about it?
April 10, 2023 7
When asked about assistive technologies in a recent staff
survey, the responses included…
April 10, 2023 8
What in the name of all things is an
assistive technology?
No idea what this is all about?
I don't understand
these terms
I have no idea what you are talking
about unfortunately
April 10, 2023 9
Is it denial?
April 10, 2023 10
… but none of my students have a
disability
… but it’s not my
responsibility
… but they can use a screen-
reader, it’s fine
… but there’s nothing wrong with
my materials
April 10, 2023 11
However… Affects 1 in 6 people in the UK
There is a steady increase with age
Less than 10% of those aged 16 – 29
BUT… more than 20% of those aged 45 – 59
Plus… accessibility is not a disability-only
issue!
April 10, 2023 12
Is it because it’s complex?
April 10, 2023 13
It can look that way…
April 10, 2023 14
Source: WCAG 2.0 Guidelines, Wordle.net
April 10, 2023 15
Is it a question of aesthetics?
Is it a question of cost?
April 10, 2023 16
There is no single answer
– if we can understand some of the issues we can start to
make change
April 10, 2023 17
So, what does accessibility really mean?
April 10, 2023 18
An example…
April 10, 2023 19
“ Speaking ALT textVisited link Access Mattersalt plus one page has two Headings and four linksHeading Level 2 Test case forHeading Level 2 Visited link Speaking ALT textThis test case illustrates several methods of specifying ALT text for
images. It can be used to determine exactly what screen readers or other assistive technology provide for various cases.
Immediately following is an image with no ALT text at all. Immediately following is an image with ALT text of only two quote
characters.Immediately following is an image with ALT text of quote space quote. Immediately following is an image with descriptive ALT text. Graphic bullet Comments are welcome at theVisited Linkessay about this topic in the Access Matters blog.Copyright copyright 2005 Bob Easton. All Rights Reserved.”
A transcript of a screen reader reading out a web page:
April 10, 2023 20
In the example, how many images were on the page?
1. None
2. 1
3. 2
4. 3
5. 4
6. Couldn’t tell
April 10, 2023 21
There werefour images
April 10, 2023 22
There was no real right or wrong answer… the real issue is that by not providing questions first we
didn’t allow you to skim ahead, look out for key phrases or read with a
purpose.
Well structured teaching would have made this far more accessible
April 10, 2023 23
What should we really know about accessibility?
April 10, 2023 24
It can impact all of us
It can improve things for all of us
April 10, 2023 25
Accessibility
Inclusive teaching
Effectiveteaching
Maximizinglearning
Confusing?
Threatening?
Inflexible?
Confusing?
Threatening?
Inflexible?
Complex?
Irrelevant?
Ugly?
Complex?
Irrelevant?
Ugly?
April 10, 2023 26
Accessibility
Inclusive teaching
Effectiveteaching
Maximizinglearning
April 10, 2023 27
So… what can we do about it?
April 10, 2023 28
small changes = BIG DIFFERENCE
April 10, 2023 29
Images – think about how they’re used
Net – use the Net, put materials online
Clarity – make all communications clear
Layout – use white space, avoid clutter
Useful – consider how your materials will be used
Describe – resources, all resources, need describing
Experience – ask about it, share it
April 10, 2023 30
What should you remember from today?
Accessibility = inclusive teaching
Accessibility is part of a process of good
practice
Changes can be simple
You cannot know everything about
accessibility
Ask your students what they need
Recommended
