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Showing posts from January, 2023

Images from around the research school

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Question and CPD ideas

  Using an approach not specifically framed around disability (situational- temp, permanent) Timely education or intervention/ addition to education with laws now emerging in this subject area and our digital world in which we live and digital future. What is the current awareness around digital accessibility of young people in schools at both late primary and secondary level? (Or aged 13 and above) - sub question As creators of digital and online content (justify age 13 more likely to be creators of digital content due to social media age restrictions and that social media is in the wider public domain). Preparing basic principles and awareness ready for leaving school or employment.  *Can school children aged 13 and above understand basic concepts of digital accessibility in the contexts of situational, temporary and permanent disability, and as future creators of inclusive digital content. Measure initial awareness of DA Interviews of understanding (what/how/where from)? Pr...

Add to lit review map or intro notes

  Timely and with  Legal aspects now being recognised eg web regs, BSL, including international regs etc  Other digital needs have made it onto curriculum awareness e.g. cyber security and staying safe online (reference these) Increasing aging population (adult social care largest outlay for councils - and online self service needs) Sections in the hive for schools curriculum. Sits in wider debate about digital literacies and skills framework competencies. Where they are available Students don’t choose units because they are not aware, only optional not core What awareness currently exists in schools and what basic concepts of awareness and skills can they master??

Accessibility guide for business book

 Great website and book on digital accessibility strategy and implementation  https://www.thebookonaccessibility.com/

Papers to print?

More from Lewthwaite’s team https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FS01571X%2F1 https://www.ace-ed.org/getting-started-with-digital-accessibility/ https://accessinghigherground.org/digital-accessibility-six-core-skills/ https://www.viewsonic.com/library/en-gb/education/what-is-digital-accessibility-and-why-its-crucial-at-schools/   https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-49108-6_14 https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3430263.3452438 https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3017680.3017804 https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2831424 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0047281616646750?journalCode=jtwa https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/689313 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tesq.3134 https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1598/JAAL.54.7.7 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00228958.2012.734015 https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jetol/issue/60134/857904 https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3287324.3287399 https://dl.acm.org/doi...

Writing thesis statements

  https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/thesis-statement/ https://youtu.be/DFp1uGTXo4Q

The reading has started

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 The literature review, six steps to success. A very useful book I absolutely know I am going to turn to. Written in a clear way to guide you through the literature review including activities, diagrams and example templates.

Resources from future teachers session

  https://elearningyork.wpcomstaging.com/2020/01/23/shifting-digital-accessibility-practice/ 2 New Courses on ARK - Accessibility Resources and Know-How! - AHEAD CAST: About Universal Design for Learning How mature is your digital practice? - Assessing your accessibility maturity (learningapps.co.uk) Shifting Digital Accessibility Practice | PDLT Team, University of York (wpcomstaging.com) Future Teacher Talks UK

Playing with ChatGPT

  ChatGPT ‘What are the challenges of teaching digital accessibility skills’ There are several challenges associated with teaching digital accessibility skills, including: Lack of awareness: Many educators may not be aware of the importance of digital accessibility or the specific skills and techniques needed to create accessible digital content. Limited resources: There may be a lack of resources available to educators to help them teach digital accessibility skills, such as training materials, examples of accessible digital content, and tools to test and evaluate accessibility. Limited time: Digital accessibility skills may not be included as part of the regular curriculum, and educators may not have the time or flexibility to incorporate them into their existing lesson plans. Technical complexity: Digital accessibility can be a complex topic, and educators may need specialized knowledge and skills to teach it effectively. Differentiation: Digital accessibility skills may not be ...

Web accessibility and SEO study

  https://www.accessibilitychecker.org/guides/accessibility-seo-impact-study/

Preparing for the big start

 So, student card set up, login to the university portal set up, student email set up, reading lists found, fee payment plan done and new books bought. This will be my last weekend of freedom before the really hard work starts. I’m going to skim read some books to warm the brain up, a bit like a warm-up before a run. I’m excited and scared all at the same time, but looking forward to my research ideas finally coming to life in a more formal academic capacity. Also looking forward to sharing findings in a more mainstream way as I gain insights and new knowledge back in the classroom. Onwards and upwards, roll on 2023!

JISC HE Making Digital Mainstream

  We would welcome your support in disseminating the report with your networks. The report is available from Digital strategies in UK higher education: making digital mainstream - Jisc - Jisc  and Nick Skelton's blog post:  How higher education leaders are putting digital at the heart of institutional strategy | Jisc

Simon Sinek - golden circle

  https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-value-proposition/start-with-why-creating-a-value-proposition-with-the-golden-circle-model/

Interesting study

  https://www.makeablechallenge.com/ GOV.UK Accessibility Blog BSL  https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2023/01/25/british-sign-language-act-improving-how-government-communicates-with-the-deaf-community/

Deeprose

  Other than the general resources from TeachAccess, Mozilla Developer Network, Microsoft Learn and so on, I’m not aware of much work in terms of teaching students.   Something we have done at Southampton is to set the Accessibility Inspector in Office  to run by default  on all staff and student machines maintained by the University.  In this recorded webinar  we go through demonstrating the importance of things like reading order, table headings. We did a previous one about writing  alternative text for complex images  like charts and graphs.   We also run a  community of practice for digital accessibility  and have done sessions about meaningful links, heading styles, talking about disability and so on. This has a few students within it who asked to join. We’re also working with our Students Union to help them promote digital accessibility, although this is more of a slow burn at the moment.   One area where we did have succ...

Thinking about questions

There maybe a curriculum gap but are young people aware of the terms accessibility and digital accessibility and what they mean? Can they name a broad spectrum of disabilities, both physical and mental/cognitive? Can young people describe any basic digital accessibility principles and who they maybe useful for? Is our future generation or society prepared with knowledge to be digitally inclusive (wider question) Can you people understand basic principles of universal design based on meeting the needs of permanent, temporary and situational barriers, including understanding what that means in digital content. What do young people know of the web regulations and WCAG? Have they ever had any lessons around disability awareness?  Experience of disability? Would you ever consider a career in accessibility topics? Any career’s advice or guidance around jobs in accessibility  Web design careers? Associated with accessibility 

Screen readers experiences study

  https://jessbudd.com/blog/screen-reader-usability-testing-observations/

Library and January reflection

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 So I’m getting ready for uni. Registration is done and a library built so I can easily access what I need. Less than two weeks to go. My AbilityNet article has caught the attention of many with likes, shares and promotion of it by AbilityNet. I have got more contacts off the back of it and input regarding questions to ask young people. My aim of getting the conversation going has been achieved. The next phase now is getting my head down into the course, but also arranging some pilot sessions to test the water with young people.  I am also promoting the research at Future Teachers Forum on 26th Jan and hopefully joining the UKAAF  as a board member on 1st February. Here’s to a good start for 2023.

AbilityNet article No 2

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  https://abilitynet.org.uk/news-blogs/time-sow-new-seeds-digital-accessibility

Useful read - Digital Skills in FE

 Skills for teachers and learners https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/634181/Skills_and_lifelong_learning_-_digital_skills_in_further_education_-_Laurillard_-_final.pdf Diana Laurillard, Jay Derrick and Martin Doel Jersey FE skills report  https://www.gov.je/Government/Pages/StatesReports.aspx?ReportID=5642 https://www.fenews.co.uk/newsletter/?nm=confirmed&nk=14941-eaa4f1172a https://www.fenews.co.uk/podcast/martin-doel-thinking-about-the-system-of-the-future/#.XigK9UNTLX0.linkedin

CPACC results

 So last night I got the email, I passed my IAAP exam.  I can now use CPACC after my name. What a great way to start the year. Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC)

More S Lewthwaite stuff

 Research info: https://www.sigaccess.org/newsletter/2022-10/lewthwaite.html Video about job in her team and about the phases of research that they are doing https://youtu.be/p5vVY_dbmHk

Age 13+ questions and/or FE lesson example

 SURVEY: What do you think of when you hear the word accessibility’, what does it mean? What about the use of digital technology and tools such as computers and mobile phones, what is digital accessibility? - who does digital accessibility affect? Collect as baseline evidence # Recap - share - how did you answer? Then show permanent, temporary and situational - everyone can face barriers. Go through examples of situations and also compare to temporary and permanent. What barriers would someone hard of hearing/ poor sight / cognitive / language have with digital content eg websites, documents, presentations, videos, social media, images? - use handout: Perm, temp, situational handout for the categories, list the barriers - activity in groups/pairs  Submit as evidence # Share with class - go through what they have. Add others and show examples eg hashtags that don’t make sense. Using list to go through and identity solutions. Show examples of solutions - on computer or the techn...

Progress over perfection

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 Meryl Evans has the great phrase ‘progress over perfection’ and it’s so relevant to the world of digital accessibility. There’s so much about perfectly making sure websites meet WCAG and the nitty gritty stuff that makes it become so niche and specialist that people who could make a difference with the basics don’t feel it can be their responsibility too. Adding alt text, using camel case Hashtags all help in the cause. Progress is awareness and those little things count too. If we all contributed, rather than just those in a specialist niche, then we would be making more progress, not putting people off because they think it’s complex. Acorns and oak trees - the small things grow into the bigger things.

Inspiring primary school children about future careers

  https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/01/05/how-we-are-helping-to-inspire-primary-school-children-about-their-future-careers/ GOV.UK Education blog https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/

Judy Brewer video TED talk

 Awareness is key https://youtu.be/Wb2X9kYEvXc

#WorkOfArt

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 Hashtag example to go with the Susan Boyle one. Image thanks to Chris Holloway on LinkedIn.

Great quote - education is the passport to the future

  “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X.

Fruit-tella

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 Can you tell the flavour easily without colours? Or do you need colour? What if you had an allergy to a certain flavour?

AT in schools research

 This needs acknowledging but this isn’t what I’m studying. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1087254/AT_Training_Pilot_Evaluation_Report.pdf Define what I’m doing and what I’m not doing. Everyday skills and digital habits awareness. Define the remit of mine whilst acknowledging this angle too.

What questions would you ask?

I’m going to be researching the possibility of the basic principles of digital accessibility awareness and skills being taught in schools.  I’m keen to explore what do young people currently know about digital accessibility and then what opportunities are there to raise basic awareness during school age education.  If you were conducting this research with young people in schools what questions would you ask? What information would be useful and impactful for policy makers to help this topic make its way onto the curriculum? What basic digital accessibility skills or principles you think young people should be aware of as a minimum and apply to their everyday content creation? 

Next London trip?

  If you’re an academic, community or charitable/non-profit organisation and wish to visit the Accessibility Discovery Centre, email   adclondon@google.com . https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/united-kingdom/the-accessibility-discovery-centre-is-open-for-collaboration/