University of Strathclyde
Strathclyde is one of the largest universities in Scotland, with just over three thousand staff members and thirty thousand students. Not all our staff create content, but most of them do. We had an accessibility project that ended last year. It was a remediation project mostly but was also conforming to culture change, and that’s when we reached out to Brickfield Education Labs because we needed something for the content.
Challenges
Solutions
“I learnt about Brickfield through a webinar they organised and ran about accessibility. I found the session engaging and was impressed by Brickfield’s positive, practical approach to accessibility. When the decision was made to adopt their Accessibility Toolkit I was very happy because the tool not only identifies issues, but also helps users understand accessibility and writing good content.” Susanna Zanatta, University of Strathclyde.
Because our platform is customised, the University of Strathclyde developed their own approach to training. A trainer produced videos that explained how to use the Accessibility Toolkit within our own system. This gave staff familiarity with the tools in an environment they recognised, which was important since many do not fully understand Moodle. If they were shown a generic Moodle site, they might not have made the connection, even though it’s essentially the same system.
The team rolled out the Accessibility Toolkit gradually. We did not want to overwhelm staff by suddenly presenting them with accessibility reports they did not understand. Instead, we began by training a small number of people in each faculty. Once they had learnt how to use the Accessibility Toolkit, they were able to support the wider rollout and contribute to building a strategy for implementation. This phased approach reduced pushback and gave staff clarity on what was expected from them.
Outcomes
In terms of impact, I can say that staff who received initial training and access to the Accessibility Toolkit made remarkable progress. Many went from having large numbers of accessibility errors in their courses to removing all of them. They were motivated to improve their content, and they succeeded. All the staff who were trained and used the Accessibility Toolkit have now made their courses accessible, and they reported being very happy with the results. Overall, staff have found it straightforward to use.
“The feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive. They found the Accessibility Toolkit genuinely useful and felt that it made their work easier. In fact, some staff even came forward to specifically request it for their courses.”
Susanna Zanatta, University of Strathclyde.
Although accessibility on our platforms is not yet perfect, we have done our best to address issues and support staff in making improvements. The University of Strathclyde recently rolled out the Accessibility Toolkit to all staff, so the results are still emerging, but we are beginning to see a positive change. We know this is a journey, and we are committed to staying on it for the long haul.
Recommendations
My advice would be, don’t treat it as a project that will end, make it a long-term process with a clear, long-term objective. A project is fine for getting things started. But unless it develops into an ongoing process, things will revert to how they were.
“Just don’t wait. Go as soon as possible.”
Susanna Zanatta, University of Strathclyde.
Need more information?
Are you looking for an Accessibility Audit and Remediation, Content Alternate Formats or Accessibility Training?
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