Free webinar: Is your accessibility statement ready yet?
Submitted by Annie Mannion on Tue, 14/07/2020 - 17:02
With two months to go until the upcoming Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations deadline (September 23), is your accessibility statement compliant?
If the answer is no, join our free AbilityNet Live! webinar taking place on Thursday 23 July 2020, 1pm BST as part of our countdown to the deadline: HE/Public Sector Update: Is your Accessibility Statement ready yet?
On our webinar, get the information you need to make changes in time to meet the deadline:
Senior Accessibility Consultant at AbilityNet, James Baverstock, will discuss the key things your higher education and further education (HE/FE) accessibility statement needs to contain.
Alistair McNaught of McNaught Consulting will outline what HE and FE sectors should consider beyond their main website's accessibility statement - including virtual learning environments (VLEs) and library resources.
Nick Jarvis-Smith will share how George's research has expanded to focus on many essential services including supermarkets, transport companies and utility services.
How to boost profits through corporate social responsibiltiy
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Mon, 13/07/2020 - 14:10
During the pandemic, Corporate Social Responsibility has zoomed up company agendas faster than a well-known video conferencing software has acquired users.
As a charity AbilityNet is keen to work with companies to help raise awareness of our mission to achieve a Digital World Accessible to all, which has never been more important at a time when technology is connecting people at home, at work and in education.
We're always keen to work in partnership with companies who share our passion for connecting people through tech, and there are a number of ways for us to work together.
Opportunities for employees: AbilityNet’s CSR scheme
A really popular way to connect with your CS programme is to encourage your employees to join our network of over 300+ volunteers who help older and disabled people make the best use of their tech and adapt it to their needs.
We’re always looking for people with patience and enthusiasm for sharing their skills with others, and to help us spread the word about our services in their communities.
In return, we have a dedicated team that support our volunteers with training and support. There’s a chance for a fortnightly Meetup with other volunteers, for training and a chat.
This is a great way to give your employees a highly valuable volunteering experience. We monitor our volunteers' satisfaction through a regular Peakon survey, and in June we scored 9 out of 10 for overall satisfaction.
As one volunteer said: “AbilityNet allows me to learn and solve tech problems while being a full-time masters student, a dad and a husband, I cannot think of a more productive way to spend my free time volunteering in any other place. I can build my tech skills to help others while maintaining a hectic life."
Helping us to help others: AbilityNet and CSR opportunities
There are various ways you can help us, help others through tech. Give what you can to help keep our FREE helpline going, or set a target and raise funds for something specific.
Box: Call our FREE Helpline on 0800 048 7642
Reaching the people who need us most isn’t easy as they tend to be the older and more vulnerable, many of whom are not online. We know they would like our help.
That's why some of our partners help us by raising money around targeted marketing campaigns, such as local radio campaigns, leaflets and social media; we know these are good ways to raise awareness of the FREE support we offer.
Supporting our volunteers
You could sponsor an online webinar or a training session for our volunteers, or why not help us thank our amazing volunteers. They are the heart of the charity and at regular intervals, we like to say a formal “thank you” through a small gift or reward. This gift can be joint branded and redeemed through your organisation if appropriate.
AbilityNet provides a range of free services to help disabled people and older people.
Call our free Helpline. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff will discuss any kind of computer problem and do their best to come up with a solution. We’re open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm on 0800 269 545
Real World Accessibility Stories - Accessibility Manchester’s first event
Submitted by Mark.Gaddes on Mon, 13/07/2020 - 08:42
Daniel Mclaughlan, an Accessibility and Usability Consultant here at AbilityNet, shared their accessibility story at Accessibility Manchester alongside speakers from other organisations including the BBC, Co-op, Everyone Can, HeX Productions and W3C.
This was Accessibility Manchester’s first event which took place on Thursday 2 July with professionals from a variety of accessibility backgrounds invited to contribute a short video about their experience of accessibility in their careers and personal lives.
The Accessibility Manchester meet-up group is for content designers, developers and anyone else working in digital and interested in raising awareness about the importance of accessibility.
Accessibility has an impact in all areas of our lives
Daniel’s interest in accessibility is the result of numerous influences over many years: from meeting their wife, a profoundly deaf author, to studying inclusive design, to volunteering with Kith & Kids, a charity that runs social development projects for young people with autism and learning disabilities. “Finding my role at AbilityNet was very much the perfect marriage of my interest in all things technical and my passion for doing work that benefits people.”
In their role as an Accessibility and Usability Consultant here at AbilityNet, a typical day for Daniel involves auditing client’s websites, apps and other digital services for digital accessibility. Identifying potential barriers and offering recommendations for remediation.
Daniel highlighted how the move into lockdown has seen AbilityNet adapt quickly with a fully remote offering of training courses and other services. Working from home has also raised questions about how we best prioritise our mental wellbeing and use technology effectively to stay connected with each other. “It’s a credit to my colleagues that we’ve been willing to have conversations about how best to support each other.”
Commenting on the biggest shift in accessibility they’ve seen in recent years, Daniel acknowledges organisations are much more actively willing to adopt accessible practices early on, whether that’s requesting design reviews or design teams requesting training. “There’s certainly a lot more to be done in terms of digital technologies, access and communication support, but I think we’re on the right track and things are moving forwards.”
Watch Daniel Mclaughlan’s accessibility story, available via YouTube:
More accessibility stories
Daniel was joined by other digital professionals who also shared their accessibility stories:
Sophie Beaumont, Senior Software Engineer for Core Services at the BBC, spoke about their approach to communicating with cross-disciplinary teams and the challenges of scaling components, processes and cultural values while embedding accessibility. A notable success has been their ‘accessibility swarms’ where teams gather to review the accessibility of a feature so that the lessons learned can benefit the organisation as a whole.
Joanne Schofield, Content Designer from Co-op, spoke about the divide between how we want people to feel about our products and services and what customers actually bring to their interactions with a brand, sharing “People experience all products and services unique to their circumstances... So as designers and researchers we need to emotionally detach ourselves from our products and services to maintain that perspective.”
Andrew Bromilow, Assistive Technician from Everyone Can highlighted their collaboration with stroke organisations and the benefits of gaming as a way to reduce social isolation. Lockdown has seen many of us consider how technology can keep us connected.
Other speakers included Rachel Morgan-Trimmer, Neurodiversity Coach and Consultant from Sparkle Class, Holly Thiele, Accessibility Analyst from Barclays, James Hall, Creative Director of HeX Productions, Hannah Beech, Principal Test Engineer at Foot Asylum, Fred Warburton, Accessibility Lead for Babylon Health, and Charles Hall, W3C Invited Expert.
Following the presenters sharing their accessibility stories there was a question and answer session which Daniel Mclaughlan contribute to.
Responding to a question about accessibility progression tracks Daniel highlighted that job descriptions can often be a wishlist of skills, explaining that at AbilityNet we have several teams responsible for supporting our Digital Accessibility Services - Marketing, Sales, and Planning.
In our Accessibility Team we are currently recruiting for consultants. We have typical Junior, Mid, Senior and Principal roles and though technical skills are required, passion speaks volumes. Senior staff members are actively involved in mentoring and client-facing work such as developing an accessibility strategy. While our collaborative approach means that any team member, regardless of seniority is encouraged to contribute to our training and documentation. We also encourage our Consultants to pursue IAAP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals) Certification. We also have a Professional Pathway scheme with City University.
On a question about keeping interest in Accessibility Champion Networks Daniel was reminded of the fantastic keynote at TechShare Pro 2019 by Samantha Soloway from Verizon Media. They build accessibility into their onboarding process with new hires made aware of the companies’ accessibility approach and given the opportunity to tour their accessibility labs.
Accessibility Manchester isn’t the only meetup group of its kind – the Accessibility London meetup group has been running regular events since 2015.
TechShare Pro is the UK’s leading accessibility and inclusive design annual conference, bringing digital professionals together to discuss the future of accessibility and inclusive design. Join our mailing list to be kept up-to-date with information about this year’s event.
Useful links
To stay up-to-date with the latest accessibility, disability and technology news from AbilityNet please join our mailing list.
If you are as passionate as we are about digital accessibility check out our current vacancies to find out how you can use your skills and experience to help us with our vision of a digital world accessible to all.
We offer tailored accessibility and usability support to clients from all sectors. Talk to us about your project and our experts will advise on a bespoke accessibility strategy to meet your requirements.
During the free webinar, Accessible design tips for a competitive edge (part of our AbilityNet Live free webinar series), expert panelists will share their experiences of designing with accessibility in mind, describing success stories and explaining how establishing accessibility best practices can put you at a competitive advantage, particularly as Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of accessible design for meeting the needs of diverse users.
Join expert speakers from Sony Europe, Moneysupermarket and AbilityNet to discuss topics including:
Top tips for accessible design
Designing for older people and disabled people
Common accessibility issues that can be fixed by inclusive design
Career prospects for those with accessible design credentials
About our speakers
Sarah Zama – Sony Europe
Sarah is currently the UX, Design and Videography Manager at Pro.Sony & the Global Accessibility ‘go to’ person. The accessibility add-on is as a result of her time working in digital production for more than 12 years at Living Paintings and Guide Dogs, both charities in the sight loss sector.
Emily Cheshire - Moneysupermarket
Emily is a UX Designer at Moneysupermarket Group. Determined to have an ethical impact on the world, Emily stepped into UX resolved to create inclusive products that better users' lives. Emily’s dedication to building inclusivity was recognised internally with the Inclusion Icon award in 2019. Since then she’s been leading and participating in a number of accessibility-focused projects at Moneysupermarket Group.
Alice Taylor - AbilityNet
Alice joined AbilityNet after spending five years working as a Front End Developer in a range of digital agencies. As a senior accessibility consultant in our Accessibility Services Team, Alice provides in-depth auditing of web/mobile websites and applications, and carries out design, wireframe and specialist assistive technology reviews, for a wide range of clients across the public and private sectors.
Help every disabled person in the UK get the key kit they need
Submitted by Robin Christopherson on Wed, 24/06/2020 - 12:43
Being a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Assistive Technology (APPGAT), I passionately agree with our remit of ensuring that both government and the UK community as a whole are aware of the power of assistive technology to benefit the many millions of people with disabilities in the UK today, as well as our conviction that the right tech should get into the hands of those who need it regardless of circumstances or ability to pay.
APPGAT associate member, the British Assistive Technology Association (BATA), is undertaking a key survey here in the UK as part of a World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative that aims to compile a list of priority assistive technology products that every person with a disability should have access to – ideally on the public purse.
Take the survey
If you live in the UK and use or supports someone who relies on assistive technology, please take the online survey (also available as a PDF) to help shape the list.
The initiative is being undertaken in partnership with the WHO’s Global Cooperation Assistive Technology Programme, which has invited member states to establish a national list of the most essential devices that policymakers should offer through government services and programmes.
From glasses to hearing aids, from crutches to wheelchairs, from prosthetics to fall-detectors, there’s a wide range of assistive technologies provided by the NHS across a range of disabilities.
However, there are still several (equally as life-changing) solutions that aren’t funded by the government unless you’re in higher education or employment. A notable example is the combination of speech output (‘screen reading’) software and an electronic Braille display for someone who is blind. These are essential tools to ensure that someone can be both active in the digital world and gain essential literacy skills. Highly expensive purchases for an individual, but hugely susceptible to price reductions when purchased at scale by a local authority, say.
Who can take the survey?
Anyone, but especially users/potential users and their family members, disabled people's organisations and Assistive Technology (AT) and rehabilitation professionals, are encouraged to take part in this survey.
Please share it with your colleagues and friends.
There’s no advertised deadline for your feedback, but I’d advise doing it today so that a clear picture can be put to government as early as possible.
Launched during aphasia awareness month, the guide aims to support the estimated 350,000 people who have aphasia in the UK, and are more likely to feel lonely and isolated during the pandemic.
The ‘Getting Online for People with Aphasia’ guide, has information to enable people with aphasia with the digital skills they need to connect with friends and family, and the stroke survivor community.
The Stroke Association designed the guide following a UK-wide consultation with stroke survivors. It uses aphasia-friendly text supported by pictures and key words, can be used with a text reader and covers the use of many devices including computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive of the Stroke Association said: “You don’t have to feel imprisoned by aphasia. This guide provides a vital lifeline and gives you the skills and confidence to get online. It’s particularly helpful for keeping in touch with loved ones, [and] guiding you through things like video calling.”
First-hand experiences
Technology has helped Pamela Bateman-Lee, 51, with her recovery after she had a stroke which left her unable to talk and affected her hearing.
The stroke left Pamela, and actress, with difficulty speaking, reading and writing. “‘People do not know about aphasia; they don’t understand that I have had a stroke as I don’t look different. People think I am stupid, maybe my brain is small,” she said.
A stroke is the most common cause of aphasia, which is a speech and language disorder. and can affect the ability to speak, read, write - and sometimes understand speech, and use numbers. Pamela received 6 weeks of speech and language therapy and uses a speech assistant app on her phone to jot down words and short sentences when she is unable to say them aloud. She had to relearn how to use technology after her stroke.
During the lockdown, she has been relying on technology more to connect with others and has even joined a few aphasia groups in America using Zoom.
Since her stroke, Pamela has rediscovered her passion for performing. “I have had speaking parts and non-speaking parts. I have specific strengths in improvisation and physical theatre,” she said.
AbilityNet: Helping Stroke Survivors
AbilityNet works closely with the Stroke Association at a national and a local level. Find out how one of our volunteers was helping a local group based in Milford-on-Sea, including those experiencing communication problems. Our 300+ volunteers are experienced in helping older and disabled people use their computers.
For help from an AbilityNet volunteer, call our Helpline on 0800 048 7642
In March we hosted a joint webinar on technology for Stroke Survivors.
The Stroke Association is hosting an ‘Aphasia Chat’ on Tuesday 23 June at 11:00.
Go to @TheStrokeAssoc to be part of the conversation. You’ll be able to connect with other stroke survivors with aphasia, ask questions and share recovery tips.
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Tue, 16/06/2020 - 19:04
Charities and individuals are adapting to the pandemic to meet the needs of diverse communities. We brought some of these together in our recent AbilityNet LIVE! Webinar.
As a panelist, Saba Salman noted when “community, communication and tech come together, the social good that comes out of that is just brilliant.” Salman is author of Made Possible an inspiring collection of essays by high achieving people with learning disabilities.
Also joining the webinar, hosted during Learning Disability Week, were Grace Eyre, the award-winning film-maker Matthew Hellett, and Creative Future.
All are exemplars of bringing together those three elements of community, communication and tech".
Redesigning services during the pandemic
The Grace Eyre Foundation, which helps people with learning disabilities in Brighton & Hove and West Sussex gain independence, has had to redesign support during the lockdown, as David Matthews explained: “Active Lives is one of the many arms of Grace Eyre,” he said.
“It was very much about group community activities and we suddenly got this lockdown and we changed from a 99.9% direct delivery to people with people coming together at a very social hub, to being unable to do that,” added Matthews.
The charity’s response was to launch an online friendship group. “We've had to be creative very quickly [and] switch from being about social activities in the community, such as, you know, just going out for a night to being focused on our Facebook group.”
AbilityNet’s community volunteers now offer remote support. Call 0800 048 7642
The closed group offers a chance for people to connect and share their passions online. “We told basically everybody to join the Facebook group," said Matthews.
"We now have over 166 members of that page. People just share in the story of their day and post in that they've created something, a piece of art, a puppet… we've seen a lot of bread. We've even had someone win a prize from one of the bakeries for their bread, which was just amazing.”
“They’re able to show that to other people, their peers, who then comment and engage and say, that's amazing.”
Creating connections through online art
Art has also played a role in helping Salman connected to her sister Raana during the lockdown. Ranna inspired Made Possible and has fragile X syndrome and while others have flocked to Zoom and WhatsApp those channels didn’t work for her.
“Raana doesn't use the phone. She will text [but] very short text messages. This whole period has been, it's just been really difficult because my family has not been able to have hat face to face physical connection. So, while we have been communicating through Raana’s support staff [who are] amazing. What we've lacked is that direct contact. So, we tried a video conferencing call; we tried WhatsApp video, and she just didn't like it. It just didn’t work for her."
Instead, Salman has been sending online videos to Raana and curated an online art gallery.
“I began recording messages for Raana around the house where I've got her artwork hanging up, or some flowers she's grown. It developed to being shared on social media and quite a few other family members, and other siblings got in touch with other pieces of art that they made, and I created an online gallery and called it the happy art gallery.
Similarly, Grace Eyre has launched Art in Isolation, a community art project. It suggests a different weekly theme for people to get creative around with participants then sharing the results on Facebook.
Keeping creative during lockdown has been important for the award-winning filmmaker Matthew Hellett, who is a contributor to Made Possible.
Matthew is a programmer for the Oska Bright Film festival, which this year has had to move online. “I am the head programmer for Oska Bright Film Festival. Next year, is our 10th Birthday. But because we can’t tour because of the pandemic, we’ve had to put last year’s film festival online. It's called Oska Bites,” said Hellett.
The Oska Bites festival will run from the end of May until January 2021. It features short films such as The First Bite, which is Live on 2 July from 7 pm. The film aims to “Take a deep dive into the different ways learning disabled people express themselves and navigate the world.”
Meanwhile, Creative Future - an arts organisation supporting some of the UK's most talented under-represented artists - has been embracing technology as a way of enabling diverse writers to come together.
As Jane McMorrow Creative Future’s Director told webinar attendees: “We work with a whole range of social enterprises and deliver workshops. For instance, we work with Preston Park recovery centre [in Brighton] and normally would run our workshops in [their space]. I'd say about 80% of our program is online now.”
“We're fortunate in that creative writing lends itself quite well to an online offer, and, part of our program is to allow those writers to come into a room together. And there's been some really lovely peer to peer working.”
Creative Future has had support from Diversity and Ability in delivering some specific Zoom training for its clients.
AbilityNet: adapting to help you during the pandemic
Like our panellists, we have been adapting to help you during the pandemic so we can continue to support older and disabled people. For more details: AbilityNet provides a range of free services to help disabled people and older people.
Call our free Helpline. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff will discuss any kind of computer problem and do their best to come up with a solution. We’re open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm on 0800 048 7642.
Remote support We have a network of AbilityNet ITCanHelp volunteers who can help if you have technical issues with your computer systems.
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Mon, 15/06/2020 - 09:03
It’s Learning Disability Week presented by Mencap this week, and the theme for 2020 is friendship during the lockdown.
Personally, I’ve leaned on friends a lot during these challenging times including one small WhatsApp group (there’s three of us altogether) who did our journalism training together in the mid-1990s. One of the three is the inspirational Saba Salman, who has recently released Made Possible: stories of success by people with learning disabilities, in their own words.
The book was inspired by Saba’s sister Raana who has fragile X syndrome but more importantly “has a talent for baking, an ambition to see her artwork widely displayed, an infectious giggle,” according to Saba’s Guardian article.
Raana’s passion for art has inspired a unique way of the two sisters staying in touch during the lockdown, which we’ll hear about in our free webinar on Monday 16 June.
Celebrating diverse voices in learning disability work
We’ll also be joined by award-winning filmmaker, performer and drag artist Mathew Hellett who features in Made Possible.
Like the others who feature in the book, his story is told in his own words, something that is crucial to the book’s ethos which is to “champion the rights of learning-disabled people and reveal their true, but overlooked, potential,” according to Saba.
That vision is shared by Brighton-based Creative Future is an arts organisation supporting some of the UK's most talented under-represented artists.
Its mission is to make the arts more diverse and representative of the world we live in. The organisation’s Director Jane McMorrow will also be joining us for the webinar.
Online friendship group for learning disabled during the lockdown
Also based in Brighton, Grace Eyre has launched an Art in Isolation project and an online friendship group. We’ll hear from them about how the closed Facebook Group has been enabling people to chat, and share worries during the lockdown.
While Grace Eyre is based in Brighton, everyone is welcome.
On a personal footnote, Saba is one of the last friends I had a day out with ‘in real life’ so I’m looking forward to seeing her on Zoom alongside our other special guests.
Submitted by Sarah Botterill on Wed, 10/06/2020 - 08:56
AbilityNet’s 300-strong volunteer team has been stepping up during the pandemic offering remote and telephone support to help older and disabled people use technology.
During, Volunteer’s Week 2020 we ran a series of Lunch and Learn sessions together with the RNIB and Amazon as a thank you. We also asked how they’ve been helping our clients, and 95 AbilityNet and RNIB volunteers replied to a short survey giving useful insights.
The difference technology can make
We know what we do isn’t just about the technology and our volunteers confirm this; 96% of those who responded agree that “Technology is more essential than ever during the lockdown,” with 96% agreeing that technology “has been able to keep people connected during lockdown.”
Volunteers agree that technology is especially important to older and disabled people.
The figures concur with our ongoing impact report, from which we know that following an intervention from one of our volunteers 69% report feeling less isolated.
Lockdown has prompted people to try new things, as well with 80% of survey respondents saying: “Clients have been trying to do new things during lockdown they haven’t tried before.” Again, this echoes our impact survey, which shows that 67% of clients have “greater participation in new activities”, with our help.
Providing support remotely
Supporting clients remotely has been a learning curve for our volunteers but it’s a challenge they have and continue to embrace with 69% saying they feel confident doing so.
Need support with technology? Call our helpline on 0300 180 0028
Please note: calls to our helpline number cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number and count towards any inclusive minutes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls, and AbilityNet does not receive any money from these calls
AbilityNet has also launched AbilityNet LIVE! a series of live events designed to help people use technology. We’ve covered a number of topics including staying connected, how to find local support online and working with neurodiversity.
All the recordings and details of upcoming events are available online.
If you can afford it, please donate to help us support older and disabled people through technology
How AbilityNet can help
AbilityNet provides a range of free services to help disabled people and older people.
Call our helpline. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff will discuss any kind of computer problem and do their best to come up with a solution. We’re open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm on 0300 180 0028.
Remote support We have a network of AbilityNet ITCanHelp volunteers who can help if you have technical issues with your computer systems.
AbilityNet’s 300-strong volunteer team has been stepping up during the pandemic offering remote and telephone support to help older and disabled people use technology.