GAAD TAKEOVER WEEK: Digital Accessibility Champions Programme

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 By Sophie Ward, Dawn Fletcher, Joao Craveiro and Ian Cadwallader

Logo for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which is a circle with GAAD in the middle, and a computer keyboard on the outside of the circle.

Jenny Hughes, Dawn Fletcher, and Heather Driscoll have been leading the fantastic Digital Accessibility Champions Development Programme here at the University.

This innovative program responded to a gap in provision and provided professional services staff with the knowledge and skills to build a more accessible digital learning environment for staff and students.

Just wrapping up its second run (November 2023 - March 2024), the programme this year included around 40 enthusiastic participants from professional services. Staff engaged in a mix of taught sessions, discussion groups, and reflective tasks.


Learning from others across the University

The program featured a range of speakers including the central Digital Learning Team to Disability, Dyslexia Support Services (DDSS) and faculty members. The different sessions gave insights into various accessibility topics including:

  • Accessible documents and presentations
  • Accessible and Inclusive Assessment
  • Introduction to Assistive Technology
  • Accessible video, audio and images
  • Blackboard
  • Communication with students
  • Encouraging others
A drawing of various people stood on blocks of different sizes, holding laptops


Quick tips from Digital Accessibility champions: 

  • "Long links are not as accessible for people with screen readers, and they are generally harder to read anyway. A link could be embedded in the sentence instead - making it more accessible to everyone, and aiding clarity of where the link sends the user."
  • "Some assistive technology has limits such as file size, which means that some teaching materials might be less accessible if they are over the this limit (Glean has a limit of 50mb)"
  • "Using animations on presentations, and having images appearing on top of each other, means that when students come to use teaching materials later or with assistive technology, they can’t view all of the information."
  • "Accessibility for assessments can be improved by providing more practice areas, especially for online exams and clearly stating the module Learning Objectives and how much time should be spent on a piece of assessment"
  • "WebAim contrast checker can help you to identify accessible colours and contrast"
This program is a shining example of how we can work together to build a more accessible and inclusive university for all. Thank you, Jenny, Dawn, and Heather!