HE/Public Sector update with University of Southampton

HE/Public Sector Update November 2021
HE/Public Sector update
Accessibility Allies with the
University of Southampton
Sarah Fielding, Matthew Deeprose, Luke Searle
from the University of Southampton
Helen Wickes, AbilityNet
Annie Mannion, AbilityNet (host)

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Welcome

“We support people of any age,
living with any disability or
impairment, to use technology
to achieve their goals at home,
at work and in education.”
AbilityNet: A Digital World Accessible to All

• Sarah Fielding, Matthew Deeprose, Luke Searle – University of
Southampton
• Helen Wickes, Education and Workplace Relationship
Manager, AbilityNet
• Q&A
Today’s session

• @Mark
Poll.
What are you doing to make sure that new
starters are clear about their responsibilities
under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility
Regulations (PSBAR)?

Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations
(PSBAR) recap
Helen Wickes, AbilityNet

Public Sector Regulations Update
• Monitoring continues with first mobile apps being
tested
• Report showing results so far due in December
• Key Actions
• Review and update your statement regularly
• Ensure contact method on statement is correct

AbilityNet Support
• My Computer My Way - newly updated
• Webinar Series
• AbilityNet Factsheets
• Consultancy & Training
• HE and FE Accessibility Maturity Model
• eLearning modules

eLearning
• Introduction to
accessible
teaching &
learning
• Accessibility & Me
– Lived
experience

Accessibility Allies at University
of Southampton
How five interns improved accessibility for
more than 6000 students.

Who are we?
Dr Sarah Fielding
Digital Learning Team
Manager
@Shieldingafar
Matthew Deeprose
Senior Learning
Designer
@vleguru
Luke Searle
Learning Designer
@LukedInLearning

What will we cover today?
Introduce Blackboard
Ally.
How the internship
worked.
Our appointment of
five interns to improve
content accessibility.
Sharing our lessons.

Online materials available
https://go.soton.ac.uk/allies

About Ally: Alternative formats 0
Original module materials Alternative formats

About Ally: Assist staff with accessibility 2

Ally Reporting / Initial Rollout plans
How accessible are
the files uploaded to
Blackboard?
Recruitment of 5 interns (“Accessibility
Allies”) to conduct targeted remediation
work.
Student/staff facing comms / videos
about the benefits and use of Ally.
Ally “roadshows” and outreach
activities.

Accessibility Allies! Preparation and initiation
Preparation and initiation Module remediation work
Additional activities Reflecting on the internship
Accessibility Allies

Our expectations for the internship
For us to learn about Ally quickly.
Deliver rapid accessibility improvements in priority modules.
Identify top areas for staff development.
Encourage a variety of student viewpoints, inform our communications about Ally and accessibility.

Recruitment
Digital Learning is looking to recruit 5 full time summer interns as part of the
Blackboard Enhancement Project. Part of the project includes the rollout of
Ally, a tool to help us identify and fix accessibility issues in online learning
materials.
Our Accessibility Allies (interns) will be working with us to provided targeted
support. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about digital
accessibility, work with our team of Learning Designers, and to help make a
change for the better for all students Successful candidates will gain a range
of transferable skills as well as a valuable insight into ‘digital inclusion’.
Day-to-day, the work will involve checking and amending the following
aspects of Word documents, PowerPoints, PDFs and other file types:
• heading structure
• labelling of data tables
• image descriptions
• accessible colour contrast
• meaningful link text
Large number of
applicants
Bucked a trend
in gender gap in
internships

Training materials
• Microsoft Accessibility
fundamentals
• Creating accessible documents in
Word and Adobe Acrobat (LiL)
• AbilityNet’s “Accessibility and Me:
Lived experience”

Identifying modules for remediation
“File score”
below 50%
More than
150 students
enrolled?
Selected by
the faculty?
Module
leader
agrees?
Content
authors
available?
No updates
planned?
Into the
remediation
queue!

Process for content remediation
Starting
•Record initial accessibility scores.
•Take backup of all files, upload to central area.
Working
•Remediate module content accessibility, using guidance provided.
•Request original files from module leaders if they have used PDFs.
•Aim for a 40% increase in file accessibility, as rated by Ally.
Completing
•Record finishing accessibility scores.
•Debrief module leader.

How to remediate content guide
A single, living document:
• detailing the process
• explaining step by step how to
resolve accessibility defects
identified by Ally

Accessibility Allies Assemble!
Charlotte
Emily
Stefan
Sian
Velina

Accessibility Allies! 2

Using MS Planner to build a Kanban board 2

Supporting Remediation activities
Discuss issues via Teams and in stand-ups.
Accessibility subject matter experts available via chat.

Most common remediation techniques
Taking content out of tables that were not used for tabular data
Alternative text on diagrams
Fixing contrast issues
Applying / fixing headings
Reading order
Linking scans of journal articles to their original online version

Subject matter expertise required?
Headings Contrast
Pictures of text
Colour as only
form of meaning.
Tables
Alternative text
for some images
Alternative text for
some images
No Yes

Debriefing the module leads
Led by the Ally using a presentation
template.
Topics included:
• Introducing the Ally and the project.
• Details of remediation work:
• Change in score
• Common types of remediation
• Further guidance

Let’s hear from our interns!

Preparation and initiation module remediation work

From storyboard to video

Instagram Takeover

Podcasts and Presentations

How much impact?
Average start score:
33%
Average end score:
67%
Average overall
improvement: +87%
Files
24 modules
remediated
with 6000+
students
enrolled.
Average 4
days per
module.
10
debrief
meetings.

Comparing across faculties
30
35
18
46
25
53
55
51
78 71
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Arts and Humanities Environment and Life
Sciences
Engineering and Physical
Sciences
Medicine Social Sciences
File
Accessibility
%
Before
After
75% increase
2 modules
58% increase
10 modules
179% increase
2 modules
70% increase
5 modules
181% increase
5 modules

Who benefits?
Staff responsible for
modules.
More than 6000
students enrolled on
the remediated
modules.
Students on future
deliveries of the
module.
Students on other
modules, where
remediated materials
have been re-used or
repurposed.

Feedback from staff 3
High-quality
communication.
Use of objective
stats in the
debrief.
Explanation of
accessibility issues
and how to
resolve them
going forward.

Let’s hear again from our interns

What would we do differently? 22
Better administration.
More structured stand-ups?
Prepare the ground more with academic colleagues.

Next steps
Scientific
notation
Outreach
Digital
literacy,
including
accessibility

Final thoughts
This is only one
aspect of
addressing digital
accessibility at a
University.
An institution-
wide approach is
required in order
to sustain
accessibility.

Making IT accessible for all
03 December 2021 10:00 - 11:00
Book: https://bit.ly/3vmiijh
• Approaches to building a digital
accessibility policy for university
IT departments.
• Techniques for embedding
accessibility within IT
development processes by
‘shifting left’.
• Examples from within the Higher
Education and wider IT sectors.

Thank you

Q&A
Please use the Q&A window
You’ll be directed to a feedback form at the end of the broadcast
Slides, transcripts and a recording of this webinar will be shared
via follow up email

Accessibility training courses
10% discount code: AbilityNetWebinar10
Book now: www.abilitynet.org.uk/training
Courses coming up include:
• Wed 3 November: InDesign accessibility
• Wed 10 November: How to use assistive technology at work, in
education and at home
• Thurs 11 November: Accessibility for designers
• Thurs 25 November: Video Game Accessibility

• NEW! Elearning modules for HE and FE: www.abilitynet.org.uk/elearning-
modules
• Download the free McNaught & AbilityNet HE & FE Maturity model:
www.abilitynet.org.uk/maturitymodel or enquire about a guided session
• Accessibility services: www.abilitynet.org.uk/digital-accessibility-he-and-fe
More HE & FE focused services

• AbilityNet’s TechShare Pro
conference, Europe’s largest
accessibility and inclusion gathering,
takes place 16, 17 and 18 November.
• www.abilitynet.org.uk/
techsharepro
• Use code TSPHE50 – half price offer
for public sector employees
TechShare Pro 2021

Thank you
• AbilityNet newsletter: www.abilitynet.org.uk/newsletter
• Next free webinars: www.abilitynet.org.uk/webinars
• 9 November: Accessibility Insights with Ted Drake, Global Accessibility
Lead at Intuit
• 7 and 14 December: Accessibility Insights and career development-
focused webinars

HE/Public Sector update with University of Southampton

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