Technology often overtakes ethics. Lecture capture is one such example, with powerful (and sometimes controversial) implications for accessibility. Sue Watling, Academic Advisor for Technology Enhanced Learning at the University of Hull, muses on the issues in this guest post. Opt-in? Opt-out? When it comes to institutional policies on the recording of teaching, the answer […]
Hot on the heels of University Mental Health Day which took place on 2nd March 2017, Margaret McKay asked Sandy MacLean Inclusion Advisor at College Development Network to share some thoughts on the role of mindfulness in our digital world….. Mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention. It is the mental faculty of purposefully bringing […]
It’s one thing having a range of assistive technology and productivity tools for students to use. It’s another thing making to raise awareness and provide support. In this case study Barbara Denton and Sara Osman explain how they’ve approached the task at the University of the Arts, London (UAL). Signposting Assistive Technology (AT) at UAL uses […]
It’s easy to get preoccupied with accessible teaching and learning but much of the information a student requires comes from faculty administrative staff. Ben Watson, the University of Kent’s Accessible Information Advisor takes up the story… At the University of Kent, we have been working closely with Jisc to implement mainstream adjustments and technologies to improve […]
The good – it works The e-book accessibility audit (August 2016 to November 2016) was a joint project between several UK Higher Education Institution disability and library services, Jisc and representatives from the book supply industry. More information on the partners is available. The audit had three main purposes: To create a sort of “accessibility Esperanto” […]
Jisc is leading the field in learner analytics. It’s never been easier to track and record every detail of a student’s journey, their successes and challenges, their interest and engagement. In this blog post Julia Taylor argues that we must not forget that the aim of learner analytics is to continually improve the student experience – for everyone. […]
A missing half million? Half a million dyslexic students may have missed out. According to the 2015 figures for England[1] the overall entry for GCSEs in summer 2015 was 4,916,000. Given the demography of dyslexia we could expect 10% of students benefitting from exam papers in accessible digital format, using inbuilt or third party assistive […]
Text to speech is great but not everyone gets on with it. What other ways can we deliver words to eyes more efficiently? What about people who want to read with their eyes but have visual or other difficulties that make scanning normal pages tiring or inefficient? What about those who need bigger fonts but […]
The University of Chester has been actively preparing for the changes to disabled student allowances. In this guest post by Pete Scorey – Assistive Technology Officer for Learning and Information Services – Alistair McNaught invites Pete to explain his approach to benchmarking accessibility. There has been much talk of ‘reasonable adjustments’ recently, along with the […]
Funding changes in Scottish FE sector prompt Margaret McKay to reflect on the wider opportunities for colleges to embrace digital inclusion in widenening participation… A review of funding to support disabled students in FE colleges in Scotland was undertaken last academic year (2015-2016). Engaging with a wide range of stakeholder groups, the Scottish Funding Council […]