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Access all areas?

OPERA (Opportunity, Productivity, Engagement, Reducing barriers, Achievement) OPERA is a university-wide accessibility project supported by advice and guidance from Jisc. To implement a range of accessibility initiatives and monitor their impact on the development of a more accessible information environment at the University of Kent.

Partners

What does print disability mean? A print-disabled person is anyone for whom a visual, cognitive or physical disability hinders the ability to read print. This includes all visual impairments, dyslexia, and any physical disabilities that prevent the handling of a physical copy of a print publication. (Copyright Licencing Agency, 2011).

Assistive technology (AT) Any device or system that allows an individual to perform a task that they would otherwise be unable to do, or which increases the ease and safety with which the task can be performed. Equipment or software designed or modified to enable disabled people (actually everyone) to gain access to curriculum content or assessment, such as the use of text-to-speech (TTS) or speech recognition software, are examples. QAA (2010).

Video magnifier

Optical Character Recognition Scanner

Types of assistive technology Text to speech Spell checking/word prediction Mind mapping Reminders Speech recognition Scanning and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Dictionaries Calculators Note taking Referencing Moodle ebooks/ejournals…

OPERA aim To make recommendations that will help to develop an inclusive information environment and encourage the wider adoption of assistive technology (productivity tools) for all at the University of Kent.

OPERA Outcomes Good practice established in accessible information, assistive technologies, opportunities and partnerships within sector and local university environments. Greater understanding of University of Kent context in relation to awareness of ‘accessibility literacy’ among staff and student groups.

OPERA Outcomes 2 Implementation of key interventions to raise awareness and mainstream reasonable adjustments that will improve the design of and access to learning and teaching materials for all. Establish role of assistive technologies as productivity tools within the digital literacy domain.

Inclusive design ‘Accessible design is good design’ (United Kingdom 2015). We can’t always know who we have coming to our institution so it is best to anticipate that every module in every faculty at all of our campuses could have someone with a print disability in attendance.

Inclusive design. Who benefits?

The problem with physical printed material

Print disability case study Michael is a blind student who use a screen reader. For his seminar next Monday he needs to summarise a 60 page report and present his findings to the group. Although available in digital format, the report appears to have no structure and he therefore has no way to access a table of contents to navigate between sections. It takes him most of the day to find out what may have taken an hour if the document had been properly structured.

Inclusive information environment Ensure documents, presentations and key readings are available to access electronically as far in advance as possible. This benefits everyone: part-timers, commuters, international students, academics, support staff…

Why are electronic resources more accessible? Electronic resources (where they are created inclusively) will allow users to: Magnify. Read aloud. Reflow. Recolour - change background colours. Convert formats - for example text to mp3/audio. Navigate the document quickly using headings.

How can I make electronic documents more accessible? Sensus Access Sensus Access is an online tool that will enable the conversion of electronic documents into a more accessible/usable format.

Microsoft Word documents Accessibility basics Keep the layout simple and clear. Use heading styles to create clear document structure. Make sure pages are numbered. Use recognised rather than ‘unofficial’ formatting. Make sure images and diagrams have alternative text descriptions. Use plain English.plain English Ensure that printed handouts are also available in electronic format. Use the Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker.Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker.

Microsoft PowerPoint accessibility basics Minimum point size of 24 for all slide text. Keep the layout simple and clear. Use the standard templates. Give each slide a unique title. Use the Notes Field to expand on important points or summarise visual materials. Make sure all pictures, charts and diagrams have alternative text descriptions. Use plain English.plain English Make sure there is good contrast between text and background.

An accessible organisation?

Institutional Policies How and where do our policies support models of inclusive design and promote mainstreaming of reasonable adjustments to reduce as many barriers as possible at source for everyone? Could we create a minimum accessible information guideline that outlines a basic standard of accessibility for all in-house created documents?minimum accessible information guideline

Policies: procurement Asking the right questions in the early stages of negotiation about product requirements to identify potential barriers well in advance and make these part of acceptance criteria.

Questions about the product/service What are the key accessibility features of the product or service? Please tell us about any standards that the product has been designed to meet e.g. WCAG 2.0 AA, BS8878?

Questions about the product/service 2 Has testing been performed with users that have a range of accessibility needs using a range of assistive technologies (AT)? –What assistive technology was tested and who did the testing? –What were the key outcomes? When you release upgrades how can you assure us they will not have a negative impact on accessibility?

IT & Networks What is the optimal provision of assistive technology (AT) on the Kent network? How can we make more AT available to students wherever they choose to study e.g. off-campus, own device. How can we exploit the benefits for all from using AT e.g. text to speech, mind-mapping, word prediction and voice recognition as productivity tools? How do we direct users to AT and embed/maximise effectiveness in everyday teaching and learning contexts?

Library and Learning Resources How can we ensure that as much ‘born digital’ accessible information as possible is available on reading lists and to support research?

Academic and Departmental Practice How can we raise awareness of accessibility literacy and embrace basic accessibility standards for in-house created/ recommended documentation e.g. lecture/seminar slides and handouts, module readings, module outlines and assessments?basic accessibility standards

Learner Awareness Do recommended reading lists include podcasts, video clips or websites / blogs? Have learning materials been produced to meet accessibility guidelines? Can I personalise the online learning environment – e.g. change colours or fonts?

Learner Awareness 2 Do you have e-book collections available and if so, where can I find out about the options for changing colours/fonts or using text-to- speech? Can I listen to information on web pages, documents and e-books using text-to-speech tools? Can you provide textbooks in alternative formats for print disabled learners? What sort of support technologies are available across the network?

Student Support and Wellbeing How can we share expertise and best practice advice and examples from the sector and the University in the most effective way? What additional information is required to assist schools in the effective implementation of ILPs? How can existing processes be streamlined to result in quicker alerting of additional requirements where mainstream adjustments are not enough to remove all barriers for some students?

More information Kent accessibility web pages (in development)accessibility web pages

Mainstream adjustments What are our most frequently requested adjustments? Where could we mainstream adjustments to tackle as many as possible in advance? –University of Edinburgh: Mainstreaming learning adjustmentsUniversity of Edinburgh: Mainstreaming learning adjustments This policy includes three adjustments which made up half of the adjustments recommended by the Student Disability Service. Therefore by ‘mainstreaming’ these adjustments we significantly improve the accessibility and inclusivity of our classrooms and reduce the number of ad hoc adjustments that teaching staff need to make.

Some free tools Hemmingway Editor / GrammarlyHemmingway EditorGrammarly VoiceNote 2 Headings map Clearly Caret browsing AT Bar Spreed Select and Speak ClaroMagX TapTapSee f.lux Be My Eyes

Mainstreaming ‘Mainstreaming takes equality to the heart of an institution, moving it from a bolt-on aspect of delivery to an integral part of the way it thinks and functions’. Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) Mainstreaming: equality at the heart of FE and HE: final reports. [Online]Online