Janette

As a former teacher, I believe our next generation of learners are key to steering the future of a more inclusive digital society. Having conducted extensive research, I developed a training model for digital accessibility that got adopted in my workplace, so I know it’s possible to educate people to make more accessible for those with assistive technology needs. This model has also been adopted by NEW college to educate new members of their team how to make accessible materials for those with visual impairments.

These ideas have underpinned my PHD research and helped me develop something called Learn to Enable. Learn to Enable sets out 12 basic digital skills that can help people to make content more accessible content for a range of diverse needs. It’s a bite-sized approach so anyone, no matter what IT skills level they have, can engage with the skills and adopt them to make everyday content such as documents, presentations, videos, podcasts and social media more accessible.

If you ever observe someone using screen readers or assistive technology, it becomes very apparent the impact of barriers caused by inaccessible content. By adopting the simple skills of the Learn to Enable approach it can make a significant difference, or even be the difference between some people being able to use digital content or not. My ambition one day is to see these basic skills put onto the school curriculum for our next generation, and for teachers to be provided with this type of support to be able to create materials with the principles of accessibility applied.



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