Why this role is important
IT and network managers influence a number of areas which impact on the learner experience. These include:
- The accessibility and usability of learning platforms
- Available web browsers and whether there are accessibility plug-ins, or they can be installed
- The availability of assistive technology software
They need to balance potentially conflicting priorities. Learners should ideally get maximum opportunity to personalise their settings and work with assistive software tools, however, there is an impact on security risks. The ideal is to provide the maximum user flexibility commensurate with robust security.
Accessibility must be embedded in quality improvement processes to avoid expensive mistakes. Disabled learners have a right to information in an accessible format under the Equality Act 2010 - see the official guidance on making your service accessible.
What you can do
Be proactive in developing and sharing expertise
- Develop your own accessibility expertise - attend appropriate training courses, conduct user testing of your systems with disabled learners or ideally, do both
- Work with learning support staff to find out how you can address the barriers that learners face together
Embed accessibility in procurement and development processes
Accessibility should be specified in the procurement or development criteria for all organisational systems. Don’t rely on statements of compliance but ask for accessibility features to be demonstrated. For example, can colours be changed? Does the system work with text to speech or screenreader software?
The list below looks at eight key things to look for before you commit to purchasing or licensing software tools or a software platform.
Some software tools are much more accessible than others so if yours fails on many of these points either ask for a discount (to budget for additional support requirements) or go elsewhere.
Font size and reflow
What is the maximum font size and does text reflow when you enlarge the font?
A maximum font size below 25 to 30 point will be too small for many partially sighted people. Bear in mind that software delivered through a browser (for example a virtual learning environment) will have some zoom potential in the browser itself.
Ask about inbuilt magnification options and see how graceful or otherwise any structural degradation is when high magnification is chosen.
Can a user change background/foreground colours or contrasts?
This can make a big difference to learners with colour deficiencies or some dyslexic learners. It might also help users working in areas with very bright or dim lighting. Ideally, you should be able to change foreground and background independently or at least have some pre-set colour schemes (including high contrast) that the users can select.
If this isn't available you might be able to work around it using a free tool like ssOverlay or T-Bar.
Are there keyboard-only equivalents for all mouse actions?
This is equally important for blind learners who cannot see to use a mouse and motor impaired learners who can see it but not use it effectively. Any features that require the use of a mouse will be inaccessible to these users.
For keyboard-only users, the design of the software is vital in minimising the number of tab or arrow key clicks they need to use to navigate around the page. Ask if the platform can be demonstrated without a mouse and count how many clicks it takes to do key tasks.
Is navigation consistent and keyboard friendly?
Having a consistent layout with a consistent tab order for non-mouse users is important. Ensure control buttons or form elements (like search boxes) are coded appropriately so that non-sighted users can understand the content they are navigating.
Text based content should have headings and subheadings marked up using appropriate heading styles to make it easier for screen reader users to navigate.
Text to speech
Can text be selected and read by text-to-speech tools?
If the resource contains text based information, check if it can it be selected using the keyboard or a mouse and copied to the clipboard. If you cannot select and copy text it will probably fail to interoperate with text-to-speech tools - unless there are bespoke inbuilt speech options.
Images, graphics and multimedia
Are text alternatives available for non-text content?
Text descriptions of graphics and images benefit all users by drawing attention to the purpose of the image and the points it is illustrating. For learners with low or no sight, the description of the image may be essential to their understanding of the concepts being described. Descriptions can exist either in the body text, in a caption or in an "Alt text" tag that can be read by screenreaders. The first two benefit a wider audience.
Where rich media is available in the resource, ask if:
- The media player can be operated without a mouse
- There are options to add text alternatives to summarise the key information
Which assistive technology tools has the system been tested with?
Unless you have assistive technology expertise in your organisation it is difficult to test this yourself but the responsibility should not lie with your organisation anyway.
Ask which technologies the system has been tested with - realistically the most likely tools that will have been tested are screenreaders. Find out which ones - commercial - like JAWS? Free like NVDA or WindowEyes? Have they tested with voice recognition tools like Dragon Naturally Speaking?
Where can I find guidance for all these features?
Even platforms and tools with quite mediocre accessibility will have features that benefit some learners. Is there accessibility guidance telling users how to use the accessibility features? Is there signposting to potential problems? It's far better that the supplier tells you that a screenreader can't access parts of the system. Why should a learner have to spend hours of frustration before discovering it for themselves?
Ask where users find plain English accessibility advice on using the platform/tool.
Maximise the availability of inbuilt accessibility features
Many everyday tools have inbuilt accessibility. Ensure that:
- Inbuilt accessibility features in Windows are available for learners to use
- The default Windows voice is as high quality as possible – install an appropriate alternative if necessary
- The speak function in Microsoft Office 2010 (and onwards) is available in the quick access toolbar
Maximise the availability of accessibility tools and plug-ins
Free and open source tools can plug gaps and ensure support for learners wherever they are on your site. Plugins are also available for most web browsers - examples include text to speech, colour/contrast changing and speed reading, which offer instant support for learners with print impairments. Find out more about accessibility plugins for browsers.
Make it easy for tutors to create accessible content
Consider empowering staff to create accessible content. Many commercial content creation tools output to formats with limited accessibility so explore open-source as well as commercial tools. Xerte Online Toolkits allow non-technical staff to create interactive learning resources with high native accessibility.
Seek and respond to feedback on corporate systems
Small things can make a big difference to accessibility. The layout of the page template for the VLE will impact directly on the number of actions a non-mouse user (eg a blind or motor impaired learner) has to perform. The way stylesheets are set up will influence how easily the learner can change colours, font sizes etc.
Ask disabled (and other) users to rate your systems against a range of plain English accessibility features like, 'How easily can you change the font type or size?' and 'How easily can you navigate around the site?'
Systems that can be responsive to assistive technologies or learner needs are good for disabled learners but they are also good for everyone else. Accessible systems tend to be simpler to use and work better on a wider range of devices, so investments in accessibility can have far-reaching benefits.
Working with others
Key stakeholders include the learners themselves and disability specialists in your organisation. Many organisations have a dedicated assistive technology specialist as some tools like screenreaders, voice recognition and switch access can require specialist knowledge to integrate well with wider systems.
Working with library staff is important in most FE and HE organisations as accessible library management systems, e-book platforms and specialist hardware (scanners) or software (like text to speech) are critical for learner independence.
Discussions with marketing staff can help negotiate the balance between corporate look and feel and personalisation opportunities.
Assess how you can support tutor creativity:
- Does wireless infrastructure support adoption of elearning across the site(s)?
- Can you support increased use of multimedia if tutors start to embed audio and video into their teaching?
- Are your e-assessment tools accessible?
- How can you work with disability support staff to ensure that plain English accessibility guides exist for all of the key systems that staff or learners are likely to use?