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HE Web Accessibility Training Programme, Summer 2019
The UK Public Sector Web Accessibility Regulations became law in 2018 and created a range of new responsibilities for universities and other public sector bodies. The purpose of the regulations is to ensure any student can succeed in higher education, focusing in particular on making sure websites and digital resources are accessible to disabled students.
This series of online workshops provides an opportunity for you to learn from AbilityNet's accessibility specialists, helping you to prepare for forthcoming deadlines and embed best practice in your work.
You'll learn new accessibility skills and focus on the key requirements of the legislation - in particular the need to produce an Accessibility Statement.
PLEASE NOTE: the date for our live workshops has passed - we are offering recordings of our HE Web Accessibility workshops at a reduced rate.
The series consists of four 90-minute workshops:
- Introduction to web accessibility for HE
- Developing and maintaining an accessibility statement for HE
- Introduction to accessibility testing for HE
- Understanding accessibility evaluations and testing results
Buy the recordings of our HE Web Accessibility Training Programme workshops
Introduction to web accessibility for HE
This entry-level session introduces the principles of digital accessibility and its impact on people with disability, with particular reference to higher education settings.
It is ideal for anyone creating, managing or procuring digital content or systems, including digital managers, web developers, learning technologists, student services staff, academics and others. It will also be useful to staff who support disabled students and technical staff involved with evaluating and reporting accessibility compliance.
Contents include:
- How assistive technology and digital accessibility helps disabled students and staff access online content
- Key digital accessibility principles and guidelines
- Updates on regulatory requirements for universities
Buy the recording of our 'Introduction to web accessibility for HE' workshop
Developing and maintaining an accessibility statement for HE
This session looks in detail at the requirements for universities to provide an accessibility statement under the new Public Sector Web Accessibility Regulations. As well as being a legal requirement the accessibility statement is an opportunity to explain to your website users, staff and students how you support their needs, as well as communicating how your website meets accessibility standards.
This entry-level session introduces the principles of digital accessibility and its impact on people with disability, with particular reference to higher education settings. It is ideal for anyone creating, managing or procuring digital content or systems, including digital managers, web developers, learning technologists, student services staff, academics and others. It will also be useful to staff who support disabled students and technical staff involved with evaluating and reporting accessibility compliance.
Contents include:
- The legal requirements for accessibility statements in universities
- How to provide information on complying with accessibility standards.
- Additional information to include in the accessibility statement to support the student experience
- Requirements for updating and reviewing accessibility statements.
Buy the 'Developing and maintaining an accessibility statement for HE' workshop recording
Introduction to accessibility testing for HE
Learn how to undertake quick accessibility checks to test whether your website(s) comply with accessibility principles. Being able to undertake these checks can help you with developing an accessibility strategy, improve procurement decisions and create an accessibility statement.
This entry-level session is aimed at anyone creating, managing or procuring digital content or systems in Higher Education. It will also be of value as an introductory session for developers and eLearning content creators looking to develop accessibility skills.
Contents include:
- Learn simple techniques for identifying accessibility issues.
- Explore free tools that can help you understand if there are potential accessibility issues in your digital content or underlying accessibility issues in your platforms.
- Understand which common interface components that need additional care when testing and remediating.
Buy the recording of our 'Introduction to accessibility testing for HE' workshop
Understanding accessibility evaluations and testing results
The new Web Accessibility regulations require Universities to conduct audits and testing across all their digital estates, form websites to learning environments. These tests can be carried out by external contractors or your own in-house teams (see Workshop 3 for how to do this yourself)
Although built around common standards such as WCGA2.1, many people find accessibility test results and audit reports difficult to understand. Automatically generated reports or expert audits can produce a list of issues that need prioritising. Organisations must also decide how these accessibility barriers are communicated through their accessibility statement and how they can remediate them in the future.
This session is aimed at anyone creating, managing or procuring digital content or systems. It will also be of value as an introductory session for developers and eLearning content creators looking to develop accessibility skills. While not compulsory, it is strongly recommended that attendees attend the session “Introduction to accessibility testing” if they have no prior knowledge of accessibility tests.
Contents include
- Learn about the process of testing sites for accessibility using automatic scanning tools versus an audit
- Understand how accessibility issues are reported and how to validate if they are issues that need addressing
- How diverse user testing can inform accessibility audits and future development plans
Buy the recording of our 'Understanding accessibility evaluations and testing results' workshop
Free webinars
Watch the recording of our free webinar about new Web Accessibility Legislation which Includes news about requirements and deadlines