RF

Electronic documents 

May it be put forward that the term electronic documents be changed to digital documents. The term electronic documents is now an old fashioned term, with digital being the more in line with current language surrounding online and digital content.

Helen Wilson took over from ????. In a quick initial review, some of the current documentation needed some minor updates due to changes in Microsoft Office functionality.

Software and guidance updates

In March at their Ability Summit, Microsoft announced the launch of their new Accessibility Assistant in Office 365 to help address issues as they arise in the flow of work rather than just using the accessibility checker at the end. Further information about the updates on this have been shared related to it in the Beta Channel. 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/03/08/create-inclusive-content-with-the-new-accessibility-assistant-in-microsoft-365/

https://insider.microsoft365.com/de-de/blog/create-inclusive-content-with-the-accessibility-assistant-in-word

WCAG 2.2

On 5 October 2023 the latest version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines were released (WCAG 2.2). Although this is not specific to documents it is another move forward in the guidelines that inform the legal standards for accessible content that is uploaded to the web. The main updates were…

https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/

Suggestions to broaden guidance materials 

At the subject leader meeting in MONTH suggestions were put forward to consider a bite sized approach to new materials to get people started in practices surrounding digital and print accessibility. It was acknowledged that some people perceive the topic to be complex to address, yet some basic principles are simple, and when in place in documents can have a significant impact to reduce barriers, especially to those using screen reader technology. This was posed as a suggestion across all guidance types.

This conversation led to the What 10 things campaign. The aim of this is to ascertain what ten simple things those with accessibility needs wished those making everyday content should apply in order to reduce the number of unnecessary frustrations with digital content. Most people make digital content in their daily work or social contexts and this type of training or guidance is not something they maybe aware of.

A video presentation to describe the What 10 things campaign and the concepts behind it, as well as a survey were made in MONTH and launched at AbilityNet’s TechShare Pro event as a lightning talk and is also available on the homepage of the UKAAF website. This campaign video and survey has also been shared by UKAAF’s equivalents in New Zealand and Australia. 

https://youtu.be/dRPV5lPXQak?si=YFhmsZcziQnHzFim

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=QYA4YykDPEOksRmij84xxlgjZs4nLa5LrAldzoECbvlUMFBETkRXNkIzVVNMSk1RWTc0NjZENkU3OC4u

Future possibilities for guidance content

In November several visits took place to NEW College Worcester to prepare a video with Sean Randall IT teacher for World Braille Day. During these videos the What 10 things survey was discussed and the potential of them supporting with future guidance materials or projects was offered should their time permit.




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