Time for digital inclusion at scale

 Based on the comparison by Lauridsen (2020) where we wouldn’t act on data protection after someone had their money stolen, so why do do we treat accessibility this way, this review looks towards the similarities of the online safety curriculum that currently does exist in schools (Department of Education, 2023), which also overlaps both the computing and citizenship curriculum. The introduction in the guidance for online safety says ‘today’s pupils are living their lives seamlessly on and offline and we want to equip pupils with the knowledge needed to make the best of the internet and technology in a safe, considered and respectful way, so they are able to reap the benefits of the online world.  It also references the importance to focus on the underpinning knowledge and behaviours that can help pupils navigate the online world safely and confidently regardless of device, platform or app. They suggest that the teaching can be built into existing lessons and covered using a s...

Text taken from original proposal to unpack/expand: The barriers and ‘unlearning’ highlighted during SCULPT were potentially framed by prior complex  beliefs and understandings and ‘unlearning’ or ‘retrofitting’ skills (Youngblood, 2010). As Gu (2010, p.340) explains “a large part of human and professional knowledge can hardly retain its original meaning when it is divorced from the contexts in which it was constructed and produced.” This made me consider that these skills should potentially be taught at the point these original meanings are constructed and that happens at a much younger age. To understand when it would be appropriate to introduce the basics of awareness and skills in school, I considered the age when young people develop digital skills (Department for Education, 2013) as well as an understanding of what it means to be disabled and children’s perceptions for those with disabilities (Boer et al, 2012).  In a literature review Babik & Gardner (2021) found th...

Weber and Abascal (2006) - related to ICDnet (2003) and Nicolle 2001. Weber and Abascal (2006) not enough teaching material available to help teachers and learners in different disciplines such a business studies for designing eshops, design, electrical engineering or computer science. Weber and Abascal (2006) digital accessibility is just as relevant to students studying degrees in special educational needs are expected to have a good overview of assistive technology devices as well as sign language and use of braile. Weber and Abascal (2006) experts consider that future degrees should include the concept of digital accessibility especially those with any form of design component. Weber and Abascal (2006) IDCnet was a network devoted to the development of a curriculum in Inclusive Design, supported by the Information Society Technologies Programme. The programme finished in 2005 but it’s activities continued under the European Design for All eAccessibility Network (EDeAN). Weber and A...

Frame its relevance and context in society Education needs to be relevant to ‘real life’ and can see authentic learning connections - the world has changed and so does our understanding as citizens of a digital society. 1-5 and who it impacts and inaccessible content discriminates. Main issue is Screen readers don’t work if content not made in accessible way. Social model of disability frames much of the laws around accessibility. Social justice. Tim Berners-Lee quote Legal context (international/UK) - UK legal, guidance Legal impetus quotes (this will help) show Examples of legal cases that it promotes justice for those challenging discrimination. Roles, jobs apprenticeships, training and materials available, IAAP certification, BSL GCSE etc. Mentioned in skills and competences frameworks for teachers and professionals. - ‘maturity models’ exist to broaden the perspective and awareness of responsibilities and implementation of accessible practices within organisations (Hassell, Abilit...

  https://www-deque-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.deque.com/blog/accessibility-legislation-regulation-roundup-july-2023/amp/

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-isle-of-man-66268288

  Zhao et at (2020)  Comparison of methods for teaching accessibility in university computing courses Qiwen Zhao, Vaishnavi Mande, Paula Conn, Sedeeq Al-khazraji, Kristen Shinohara, Stephanie Ludi, Matt Huenerfauth https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=comparison+of+methods+for+teaching+accessibility&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1690557650622&u=%23p%3Dh8wWU-0QEr0J Microsoft’s inclusive design toolkit resources are there to broaden understanding and perspectives around designing for diversity (Microsoft, 2018a - check in Horton paper). They have an inclusive design toolkit which has a broad range of personas that not only represent disabilities needs but also how these needs are common across many people, for example their infographic model shows a person with one arm, an arm injury or someone holding a baby in their arms who all face similar situational barriers, similarly someone who is non-verbal, has laryngitis or a heavy accent all share barriers...

 Kazuye Kimura (2018) The librarian profession have always expressed a commitment of facilitating access to information for all individuals of all abilities. For example in the US long before the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act libraries offered blind users embossed books. They have always played a vital role in society to ensure the social justice of access to information and inclusivity to distribute materials for those with print impairments. Digital technology has now opened that world even further. However despite regulations and guidelines many online resources in libraries remain inaccessible to those on assistive technologies such as screen readers. The root of the problem is that accessibility tends to be reactive rather than proactive, in that it is retrospectively applied, not built into the process of creating materials. An accessible resource according to the social model of disability is one that does not present barriers to access. In the built environment this ...

 Coverdale, Lewthwaite and Horton (2022b) - shared endeavour paper. Paper relates to ‘Teaching accessibility in the digital skillset’ and reports on research with 30 expert educators in academia and from the workplace to consider how both sectors can develop relationships, learn from each other and build capacity and generate shared pedagogies for accessibility that will help prepare learners and future professionals for accessible practices. The is a growing recognition of the importance of collaborations between academia and the workplace so they can both share up to date knowledge, practices, experiences and pedagogies for learning around accessibility.  There is no formal agreed curriculum and on many computer based courses accessibility is not required for degree accreditation or for professional technological certification. The topic lacks visibility within technology oriented disciplines (and others), instead it is typically covered under other subjects such as ethical ...

 Lewthwaite, Horton and Coverdale (2022) are conducting a five year study called ‘teaching accessibility in the digital skill set’ examining how accessibility is taught across a range of contexts. The aim is to establish a body of pedagogical content and knowledge to enhance digital skills as well as forge a dialogue between academia and the workplace. Capacity in academia and workplace training has not kept pace with demand and the technology sector’s accessibility skills gap remains a critical issue (PEAT, 2018) Accessibility is challenging to teach and requires a unique combination of theoretical knowledge, procedural understanding and technical skills (Lewthwaite and Sloan) - #HARD to find people with this mix quote Accessibility is often implemented as an evaluation or repair of existing resources or products rather than an application of an inclusive design strategy throughout the innovation process (Lewthwaite and Sloan, 2016). This then resorts to a fix or retrofit culture ...

 Soares Guedes and Landoni (2020) unfortunately the knowledge of what accessibility is and how it can be achieved is still not widespread. Many companies and educational institutions do not deal with the topic of accessibility with rigor in the curriculum and students often don’t learn about it which prevents the knowledge of how to create equal access to all. Soares Guedes and Landoni (2020) Specifically explored the 12 universities in Switzerland and surveyed professors, researchers and admin to find out who was teaching accessibility and what barriers they’re maybe to teaching it. The study was inspired by Shinohara (2018 - who teaches accessibility). It echoed findings in that there was an absence of clear and discipline specific learning and teaching objectives. Similar to others it found that teaching was mainly in software engineering (Ludi, 2007), technology design courses (Shinohara, 2018), web development (Rosmaita, 2006) and computing (Waller, 2009). They found challenge...

Questions for literature review: What is the broad context and relevance of digital accessibility as a topic to learn about society and the digital workplace? Where and how is the topic currently taught? What challenges and opportunities from the teaching and learning context can we learn from? What other disciplines in primary education can we take influence from to be able to teach the new topic of digital accessibility?  The topic of digital accessibility is rooted in meeting the needs of disabled users in society. The lack of progress of addressing this digitally means that those with disabilities are still facing barriers to being included in the information society (Ref). This therefore touches on aspects of social justice (Ref) and sociopolitical issues (Sonka, 2021). Social justice and attitudes to disability are a core to this topic and education is a way of addressing this to change this and create people into those who can understand the needs of others and advocate. For...

Starting to make some brain headway. Reading, reading, note taking, then writing. Notes for papers, then today with a massive latte the written backbone of the literature review to slot in papers and flesh out arguments etc. On track for a mid-August first logical rough structured draft.   Get this article Oswol and Melocon (2017)  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=18209020893554176512&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5#d=gs_qabs&t=1690277340798&u=%23p%3DAHL28wZws_wJ Keates (2011) study of an MSc course at the university of Copenhagen and the conclusions of 116 students who took the 15 week specialist unit, examined over 5 semesters.  Keates (2011) It explains how students with little or no background in the area of accessibility can gain pragmatic skills and experiences in a short amount of time. The aim of the course was to empower students to be able to identify and design for the needs of the widest possible audience ready for when they enter the workplace...