Web Accessibility Workshops
The Inclusive New Media Design project has kicked off the year with its first round of workshops on web accessibility for people with intellectual disabilities.
The workshops, held over two days here at The Rix Centre, gave the participants in the research project the opportunity to meet for the first time. There was a lot of enthusiastic discussion on the subject of accessible web design and the best ways to write code and content. The events offered participants a great opportunity to share knowledge with each and the project team. It was a good beginning for everyone involved in the project.
Day 1 began with the participants, practising web designers and developers, getting to know each other and then being introduced to the broader aims and objectives of the project. With the introductions over, it was off to the labs. The lab sessions focused on existing web accessibility guidelines, assistive devices, and accessibility best practice when writing html code.
Most project participants are familiar with web accessibility for people with physical and sensory disabilities, and are participating in the project to find out more about intellectual disability. So Day 2 started with an introduction by Simon Evans, Consultant Researcher, on definitions of learning, cognitive and intellectual disabilities and how these are used. Further activities that day included an audit of websites designed for people with intellectual disabilities, and exercises in re-writing web content for these audiences.
At the end of the day, participants were asked for ideas to work on in the next workshop sessions which would put into practice the accessibility techniques outlined in these two days. Helen Kennedy, project leader said, “the participants have come up with some really great ideas to prototype, most of which would be an incredibly useful contribution to web accessibility for people with intellectual disabilities”.
We will be looking forward to the next workshops in the series, on the 15th & 16th of February. Here, topics covered include:
- more on design & development for people with intellectual disabilities
- implementing best practice
- issues in user testing with intellectually disabled users.
For more information on the days events, participants and presenters go to the Inclusive New Media Design website.
