Making FELTAG inclusive

Alistair McNaught, Jisc Techdis

www.jisctechdis.ac.uk23/12/2014 1

Recommendations

LearnersAssistive Technology: providers need to

make more use of Jisc['s Techdis] in order

to raise levels of awareness and use of

Assistive Technology.

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Because learners benefit

from

• Productivity:

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Because learners benefit

from

• Personalisation:

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HairIntro.mp3

Because learners benefit

from

• Practice:

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HairIntro.mp3

Because learners benefit

from

• Presentation and proximity:

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What goes wrong:

1. Specialism

Statement

“I teach. Learning Support support learners.”

Translation

I teach in ways that create unnecessary barriers. We then fund Learning Support to support learners in overcoming my barriers.

Conclusion

Teaching staff do not need to be expert in disability issues but they should be expert in creating learning resources and experiences that minimise barriers

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What goes wrong:

2. Inappropriate training

Statement

“All staff get training on how to upload documents, PowerPoints

and videos onto the VLE.”

Translation

“All staff get optional training in their own time on how to upload

inaccessible documents, passive PowerPoints and videos with

no captions or content summaries onto the VLE.”

Conclusion

Focus on why and how basic inclusive good practices transform

learning and the value added of e-learning in that space.

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What goes wrong:

3. Fragmented policies

Statement

“We invest in e-learning tools and resources. Assistive technologies are available on designated PCs”

Translation

“We invest in e-learning tools and resources without checking their accessibility. Assistive technologies are available on designated PCs only because we’ve never explored what free options could be on the entire network”

Conclusion

Don’t spend money on inaccessible tools or resources that require you to spend more money later on fixes or human support. This includes ebooks, content creation tools, VLEs…

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Recommendations

Capability and Capacity of FE and Skills Providers

• ‘teach-the-teachers’ how to design accessible on-line learning materials on their own websites using open-source packages

• all FE sector staff should ideally have minimum basic online capabilities for inclusive practice and be on a progression path towards more advanced online tutoring skills

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Starting points

• The basics of inbuilt accessibility.

• Accessible digital as an entitlement.

• Documents and presentations -http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/resources

• E-books -http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/technologymatters/ebooks

• VLE

• Text to speech - http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/voices

• Assistive technology and productivity tools http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/FOSS

• Accessible content creation tools – www.xerte.org.uk