By Anne Saxelby
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is an awareness day focusing on digital access and inclusion. Here at the University, we're committed to creating an inclusive learning and working environment, and digital accessibility plays a crucial role in achieving that goal. You can see the work that’s currently going on, or planned, by visiting our recently refreshed Disability Equality Strategy and Action Plan.
What is Digital Accessibility?
Digital accessibility is the ability of a website, electronic document or mobile application to be easily navigated and understood by a wide range of people, including those who have visual, auditory, motor or cognitive differences. By making our digital resources accessible, we're removing barriers and enabling all users to participate fully.
Benefits for Everyone
Digital accessibility isn't just about inclusivity; good accessibility practices benefit everyone, not just disabled people. Think about a person using captions when watching a video on a noisy train, or someone with a sprained wrist using speech-to-text to compose an email. Many of us use accessibility features every day without realising, and accessible documents are often clearer and easier for everyone to navigate.
Making IT Accessible at the University of Sheffield
It may feel like a daunting task ensuring that the materials you create are accessible, but most of the standards are good practice and easily achieved. MS Office and the Google suite have in-built accessibility tools. If you’re not sure about these features, we have a great new online course which is designed to guide staff on creating accessible digital resources within the workplace. This might introduce you to a few new things, for example, how to use the accessibility checkers or immersive reader. Why not take a look yourself?
A couple of other great simple features Google and Microsoft offer are the read aloud functions that allow the user to hear written information spoken out loud and the dictate tools that allow for the quick capture of text, and can also help users with spelling. These can really make work easier.
You can also explore this and more via
- Google workspace guide to user accessibility which provides comprehensive information on accessibility features within Gmail, Docs, Slides, and other tools; and
- Microsoft Accessibility Tools which are available within Microsoft Office products.
We also have a range of other Digital Accessibility Resources available to help staff create accessible digital content documents, presentations, and online content. You can find these, and other accessibility guidance on the Disability Hub.
Looking for something more personalised? Why not use Gemini AI to help generate accessible content, or take a look at AbilityNet's "My Computer My Way" which offers practical tips on customising your device for easier use.
What if you need Assistive Technology?
Assistive technology such as screen readers, Braille displays, and captioning services make digital content more accessible. At the same time, text-to-speech and voice recognition software empower users to engage with written materials and navigate digital interfaces independently.
The University Software Centre provides a variety of assistive technology software that can help with reading, writing and to provide text to speech capability, as well as mind mapping and notetaking.
Additional Support
If you have a disability or long-term health condition, and you’re finding digital materials inaccessible or you’re facing difficulties using digital technology you can talk to your manager about the barriers to see what steps can be taken to support you. It might be as simple as colleagues ensuring they use accessible communication, or create information in an accessible format. You might think assistive technology beyond that offered within the Software Centre could be beneficial, for example Dragon speech recognition software, or need other technology such as a screen reader or text converter. Reasonable adjustments like these are funded centrally. Please note any requests for software need to be approved by the University before purchasing to ensure the technology doesn’t pose any unmanageable data protection or information security risks.
Access to Work is a great place to seek advice about the support that’s available and appropriate to you in your job role. This government program offers grants to help people with disabilities in work through funding for equipment and support services including software.
The University's Staff Disability Adviser can also offer suggestions for reasonable adjustments and other support options, and can support with Access to Work applications.
The Specific Learning Difficulties Tutorials Service has a range of support for staff and can help staff put strategies in place to help them work with some of the tools mentioned earlier. They’ve also created a series of short, interactive online training resources including on how to get the most out of assistive software.
There are also courses about SpLDs (Specific Learning Difficulties) in the workplace with useful ideas around strategies and adjustments, and ways to support students through inclusive course design tips and using Blackboard in an inclusive way.
I hope this gives an insight into how we can work together to build a more inclusive digital environment for everyone at The University of Sheffield and by utilising the available resources we can ensure everyone has the tools and support they need to thrive.