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Description
Session Description
By September 23rd 2018, Parliament will pass new regulations in order to enact the EU Web Accessibility Directive. These regulations place accessibility standards on the websites and apps of public bodies, and they apply to intranets and downloadable content. The introduction of the regulations is expected to have major implications for online learning, including virtual learning environments and blended learning tools, used in Further and Higher Education. This talk will give a primer on the legislation and the moves being made by the FE and HE sector in response to it. The talk will present the findings of a report on these issues, produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Assistive Technology.
Session content: evaluation and reflection
The session will come in two parts. First we will explain the implications of the new regulations for FE and HE: the accessibility standards used by the regulations; the requirement for websites to publish an ‘accessibility statement’; the details of what is and is and isn’t covered by the regulations; the timeline for implementation; and the mechanism for enforcement. In the second part, we will address how colleges and universities can respond effectively to the regulations. This includes, setting out the key stakeholders who need to be included in efforts towards accessibility; strategies to enlist academic staff as allies in making content accessible; what approaches have worked for institutions of different types; and what an ‘accessibility statement’ should look like for an academic intranet.
The presentation will draw from the findings of a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Assistive Technology (APPGAT) . The report will be chaired by Seema Malhotra MP and published by Policy Connect, the cross-party think tank that provides the secretariat services for the APPGAT. We took evidence from an expert roundtable in parliament, as well as interviews and case studies from those working in FE and HE – from learning technologists, assistive technologists, disability specialists, college and university leadership, and students themselves.
Policy Connect’s publication of the report was kindly sponsored by Blackboard. Policy Connect is a non-profit social enterprise; for more on how Policy Connect is funded and our ethical standards see http://www.policyconnect.org.uk/about-us
References
As an example of Policy Connect’s work in education technology please see
The Higher Education Commission (2016), From Bricks to Clicks – The Potential of Data and Analytics in Higher Education, London: Policy Connect [online] www.policyconnect.org.uk Available at: http://www.policyconnect.org.uk/hec/research/report-bricks-clicks-potential-data-and-analytics-higher-education [Accessed 20.03.2018]
As background on this issue please see
European Disability Forum (2017) EDF Toolkit on The Web Accessibility Directive, Brussels: European Disability Forum [online] http://www.edf-feph.org Available at: http://www.edf-feph.org/newsroom/news/edf-toolkit-web-accessibility-directive [Accessed 20.03.2018]
Resources for participants
Robert McLaren posted an update in the session New Web Accessibility Law: what does it mean for online learning? [18-53] 7 months, 1 week ago
Hello everyone!
Thank you for coming to the session to learn more about the new web accessibility regulations. Here is a link to the report http://bit.ly/2wVAS3O
If you’d liked to join a JiscMail list to get updates and more information, please email me on robert.mclaren@policyconnect.org.ukthank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Duncan,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Venetia,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Helen,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Lizzie,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Catherine,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Samantha,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi John,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Sue,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
Hi Laura – good to see you again,
Thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0
– Robert
thank you for coming to my talk! if you’d like to see updates on the new regulations you can sign up this JiscMail: http://bit.ly/2Mu5uQ0