I was invited to give an overview of digital accessibility good practice to UCEM marketing team. This was my first ‘workshop’ on accessibility and I really wanted to create an engaging experience.
While giving an overview of accessibility, regulations, guidelines and international standards, I used a set of purposely selected videos to try and make accessibility from being an abstract concept to a reality. We had lot of interactivity and my workshop participants were very engaging. One activity was to use the computer/web using Windows Narrator or ChromeVox screen reading software.
After introducing accessibility good practice there was another activity to identify accessibility issues with a document and make the document more accessible. This was an application of what guidelines say into practice. I purposely prepared the document with various issues that could be discussed at the session and it was great to see that the participants were able to pick on these easily.
We also looked at various tools we could use to check accessibility such as Microsoft builtin accessibility checker, WAVE , WAVE Browser Extensions for Chrome and Firefox and WebAIM Colour Contrast Checker.
I wanted to get feedback from the participants because I wanted to run a similar workshop with the Online Education team and anything I could learn from running this smaller session could improve the following session. I asked participants :
- One thing you learned (if any)
- One thing you liked (if any)
- One thing to improve (if any)
It was lovely to see so many positive comments. Time was definitely tight as a one hour slot. So I am hoping to have bit longer with the next group.
I am a Learning Technology Researcher and the Chair of the Online Learning Research Centre at the University College of Estate Management. My principle research interests lie in the area of social implications of information and communication technologies, especially eLearning.