Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) takes place this year on THURSDAY 18th MAY.
The University will be marking the day with several events and also taking part in Fix Your Content day, which is run by Ally – the software we use in Moodle to monitor our accessibility. Last year nearly 200 institutions took part around the world. St Andrews was a first time participant and came 46th out of 173 participants. At one point we were number 5 in the rankings – but then America woke up!
GAAD is an International event aiming to raise awareness of what digital accessibility is and how we can improve accessibility of the resources that we create digitally at the University.
Do sign up to the sessions below and we can send you the link as a calendar invitation. Alternatively, you can click directly on the link on the day.
10-11: Digital Accessibility and Ally in Moodle:
• How can the University assess accessibility in Moodle – and where do we rank against the rest of the UK?
• How to access an individual accessibility report for your module – how accessible is your module?
• What are the things we can improve on in our modules?
• How do we ‘fix’ an accessibility issue in a Moodle module?
• Getting help today for ‘Fix your Content’ Day
1-2: Technology to help with learning:
• This session looks at technology that is available to support learning.
• Read aloud from the screen
• Dictate to your computer
• Use Mindmapping for better notes, planning, referencing and producing assignments or papers
• Note-taking in lectures / tutorials
• AI to assist / simplify reading
• Getting digital resources into alternative formats (eg a PDF into audio or Word)
• Curating information
3-4: Simple accessibility testing:
• Learn how to test whether something is fully accessible
• Tools to check for accessibility
• Practical examples for you to try
• Guidance on simple ways to ensure resources are accessible
Fix your Content Day:
Throughout the day, we will have an accessibility drop-in clinic with accessibility advice from members of the TEL team in CEED, so if you try to fix your content in Moodle or have any other questions about accessibility, feel free to drop in from 10-5 on the day.
Accessibility Drop-in.
Self-access course for Digital Accessibility
If you want to prepare for the day, you can take the Digital Accessibility Basics course at any time. It is fully self-access and contains 12 easily-digestible ‘coffee-break’-sized sections, showing how you can make your content more accessible in a very achievable way. The course scores over 4.5/5 in feedback, with many who have completed it recommending it to colleagues. At the end, a quick test assesses your knowledge and you can gain a badge for completion!