{"id":10002,"date":"2024-06-27T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/?p=10002"},"modified":"2024-07-01T00:08:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T23:08:11","slug":"bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridging the Gaps: Insights from Digital Accessibility Conference 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>by Mark Thomas, Learning Technologist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/07\/2024-06-27-DigAcc24-_-Educational-Enhancement.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption><em>Click to listen to the audio version of this blog post<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Digital Accessibility Conference (DAC) 2024 hosted by Nottingham University last week was my first experience of a &#8220;distributed conference&#8221;. It brought together an international audience, with 20+ institutions taking part. The welcome session made it clear that the conference boasted over 800 individual online sign-ups (not including those watching in groups, like us). There was also a sizeable gathering of in-person attendees. Our idea at Sussex was to join the day\u2019s events by hosting all three rooms, running in parallel, and their programme of talks and round tables. The three rooms reflected the main themes of the conference:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Leadership and Governance<\/li><li>Delivering Capability<\/li><li>Realising the Benefits<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this blog post, I would like to give you my top five takeaways from DAC 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"A brightly-coloured illustration of a laptop computer on a desk, showing participants in a meeting or, as in this case, an online conference.\" class=\"wp-image-10004\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-100x67.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-200x133.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-450x300.jpeg 450w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-600x400.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/AdobeStock_414161552-900x600.jpeg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em>Adobe Stock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Change does not happen in isolation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The three themes of the conference were billed as the key drivers of change. In the welcome speech, Julian Tenney, Learning Content Team Leader at Nottingham, spoke about how nothing would improve unless senior and school leadership &#8211; along with programme managers &#8211; invested in projec<span class=\"has-inline-color has-black-color\">ts that identified and developed the capabilities to support accessibility as universal standard as part of how and who we design education for. Unless the benefits of these capabilities are realised and evidenced then lasting and embed<\/span>ded accessibility will continue to elude those who really need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Accessible STEM materials are tricky to create<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a thread of Maths and STEM subjects woven throughout the programme. One academic showcasing some of the tools and techniques they have been using hammered home the point that STEM text is not natively accessible and Maths notation is tricky to format. Using LaTeX, HTML formats, Pandoc Mathpix, and Mathjax are a few examples that were shown, while quite rightly (yet still frustratingly) highlighting their shortcomings. One interesting process, which was news to me at least, was that saving a Word document as an HTML file will extract images from the doc and save them all in a sub folder. This was useful when Maths notation images had been used and would help for adding it to a Canvas module, perhaps (with alt text, of course). &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>AI does not have all the answers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a lot of talk around the issue of alt text to support access to images and data. There were some damning numbers from the presenter where 5700 images they audited had no alt text at all. This highlights the issue that I feel is commonplace across institutions: a lack of awareness when designing materials and VLE\/LMS modules. Can AI save the day and help rectify this problem? The answer from several talks was no, not really! It can help but is not the one-stop-shop to change. AI can help describe what can be seen in commonly known images from the internet but AI does not give <em>context<\/em> for the image, which is an integral part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/abilitynet.org.uk\/news-blogs\/five-golden-rules-compliant-alt-text\">guidelines for alt text use<\/a>. When images are less known to the generative bank of information, the descriptions are less accurate. This was based on a comparison between Microsoft\u2019s Alt Text option, <a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/index\/dall-e-2\/\">Dall-e (Open AI product<\/a>) and the <a href=\"https:\/\/alttext.ai\/\">Alt-Text AI website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Student voice matters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We all strive to provide user-friendly, inclusive materials to enhance student experience and learning outcomes. Even with the best intentions in the world this cannot match what can be understood from feedback and input from those for whom accessibility is most important. \u201cAction not Reaction\u201d was a phrase that came up once or twice throughout the day and it is most important in this case. It is imperative that student input is gathered appropriately and promptly to ensure that processes and procedures are proactive and not reactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Time, and time again<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The most often quoted but least surprising reason for accessibility targets not being met is the reported lack of availability of staff time to make the changes to their materials. A staff-student co-creation project funded by a Students As Change Agents programme reported how staff in the faculty were being supported by students. Students were trained how to make existing materials more accessible (Word docs, PPT and PDF). The project is helping them understand the process of converting learning materials to improve accessibility and helping the faculty gain a greater understanding of the experience of students using assistive technology to support their learning. Students also reported the benefits of them being upskilled in digital technology as a positive knock-on effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>What next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most inspiring elements of the entire conference was the amount of enthusiasm for delivering capabilities and demonstrating the benefits. As part of the plenary, the discussion moved toward the future and one key message was that a unified and standardised approach across institutions would have a big impact. If we could agree on the accessibility guidelines and non-negotiables for the creation of a Power Point slide deck, for example, then anyone working in an institution who then moves elsewhere will be held to the same standards. With conferences like this bringing people together it really makes me feel that that is a realistic next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Helpful Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A Padlet board from a roundtable conversation about what is happening in other institutions regarding accessibility: <a href=\"https:\/\/uonarts.padlet.org\/ulzcg\/conversactions-in-digital-accessibility-dlb47bb695jr9mje\">ConversAction Padlet<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ability Net website: <a href=\"https:\/\/abilitynet.org.uk\/\">AbilityNet<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.makethingsaccessible.com\/\">Making Things Accessible<\/a> (A UCL, Westminster Uni and Brunel collaboration project)<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-10002\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-10002\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-10002\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Mark Thomas, Learning Technologist The Digital Accessibility Conference (DAC) 2024 hosted by Nottingham University last week was my first experience of a &#8220;distributed conference&#8221;. It brought together an international audience, with 20+ institutions taking part. The welcome session made<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-10002\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-10002\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-10002\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/27\/bridging-the-gaps-insights-from-digital-accessibility-conference-2024\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":424,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[36,193243,98269,157016],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IWEK-2Bk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9991,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/06\/13\/academic-developers-june-round-up-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10002,"position":0},"title":"Academic Developers: June round up","date":"13th June 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Second Sussex Education Festival\u00a0 Please join us for the second Sussex Education Festival, an event for anyone involved in delivering education at Sussex. The event will be held over two days. You can attend the Festival in-person (9.30-4pm on 10 July) in the Woodland Rooms at the Student Centre and\/or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic Development&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"a picture of a megaphone, a mobile phone, a lightbulb, a magnifying glass and the YouTube logo on a pink background, to indicate announcing information","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/06\/Round-up-October.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9260,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2022\/08\/08\/summer-conference-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":10002,"position":1},"title":"Summer conference round-up","date":"8th August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Educational Enhancement (EE) team members have been attending and presenting at a range of conferences over the summer months, as part of our work keeping an eye on sector developments as well as disseminating our own good practice and research. This post lists some of the events we have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;External events&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2022\/08\/52249225741_dd836b5591_w.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10038,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/07\/31\/this-isnt-about-learning-technology-a-learning-technologist-reflects\/","url_meta":{"origin":10002,"position":2},"title":"This Isn\u2019t About Learning Technology: A Learning Technologist Reflects","date":"31st July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chris O'Reilly, Learning Technologist Sadly, my time working within Educational Enhancement (EE) as a Learning Technologist has come to an end, coinciding with the release of this blog post. And strangely enough this is the third time I am leaving Sussex. I first started here several years ago in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Enhancement&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/08\/COR1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9733,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2023\/12\/14\/academic-developers-conference-special-december-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":10002,"position":3},"title":"Academic Developers 'Conference Special' December round-up","date":"14th December 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Conference call for papers round up\u00a0 Conference season\u2019s coming, Conference season\u2019s coming... While not quite as exciting as the imminent arrival of Santa, there\u2019s been a flurry of calls for papers for teaching and learning conferences in 2024, many with submission deadlines in late January. So, our gift for you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic Development&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2023\/12\/academic-christmas-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9632,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2023\/09\/14\/summer-2023-conference-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":10002,"position":4},"title":"Summer 2023 Conference Round-up","date":"14th September 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Educational Enhancement (EE) team members have been attending and presenting at a range of conferences over the summer months, to disseminating our own good practice and research and follow sector developments. This post summarises some of the events we have attended with reflections from the team. ICT for Education June\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-14-at-12.03.16-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8195,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2020\/02\/11\/telus-podcast-s3e4-conference-round-up-and-the-digital-practice-awards\/","url_meta":{"origin":10002,"position":5},"title":"TEL:US Podcast S3E4. Conference round up and the Digital Practice Awards","date":"11th February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In this show I caught up with fellow learning technologists Matt and Paolo to discuss the various conferences and training events we attended over the last couple of weeks. Including BETT, AUA, Microsoft Teams and the Assistive Technology Network meet up. I also chat to our head of Technology Enhanced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Podcast&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10002"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10013,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10002\/revisions\/10013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}