AHEAD Abroad

If you google AHEAD you will find at least 2 of us. One in America and one in Ireland. Actually set up independently of each other, and quite different in their operational setup, the organisations do stay in touch.

The main link up is their annual conference. Our director (my boss!) Ann Heelan, tries to get to this whenever possible, but it is a week long, intensive conference held somewhere in the US every year so it definitely isn’t an annual trek for anyone in the office. This year, it was on in Louisville, Kentucky and Ann came back exhausted, but with some new ideas and information and great contacts, and we wanted to share that with you.

The two areas that were of most interest to us were on accessible matierials and chronic illness.

Beth Case and Roseanna Davidson of Texas Tech University gave the detailed presentations on accessible matierials and her information is well worth reading. (Go to Block 5.2) (also available directly here) The presentations and handouts show how to make the following accessible: distance learning, audio, video, websites, chatrooms, powerpoint,  pdfs, online quizzes and tests, online content.

The other really interesting session Ann attended was “Riding a Tightrope: University Policies vs. Needs of Students with Chronic Illness” Given that this group is still under-represented amongst students with disabilities, information developed from experience, on how to accomodate students with chronic illness is very useful, not just for universities or the further education sector, but also for employers. You can find the presentations here (go to Block 1.5)

Obviously there were many many more presentations which may be of use or interest, but unfortunately Ann couldn’t be in more than one place at once! Have a rummage through the site and you’ll find plenty to look at, all based on the theme of “AHEAD 2009 Global Access: Opening a World of Opportunity”. It’s well worth a look, and it’s always good to see what’s happening elsewhere in the world.

 

Powerpoints

In a sporadic series of posts  I’ve focused in on some access issues – admittedly only scraping the surface.

Accessible blogs and documents, next up presentations/ training. Specifically – powerpoints. Slide presentations of some form have been around for ages – and I know there’s others out there who can talk about the history of this better than I can, but that’s not the point. At some point slide presentations moved from being images to accompany talks to being the stars of talks. And that’s a big problem when you’re trying to be accessible. Poor powerpoint/ presentation skills will always undermine the message you’re trying to get across – for everyone who is a witness to it. And this has been explored and written about many many times. I just want to add a few reasons to re-evaluate your use of powerpoint especially in terms of your delivery, and hopefully give you an insight into the experiences of some audiences.

• If most of your content is written on the powerpoint, people have to read it as well as listen to you. That’s difficult if you’re trying to lip read, follow a sign interpreter, (eyes can’t be in two places at once) are dyslexic, blind or visually impaired.
• If your speech is reliant on visual images – think about the possibility that there are blind or visually impaired people in your audience. I’m not talking about situations where images are aids – but where they are a key part of your presentation.
• Your powerpoint should act as a guide – this can be really helpful to people who may struggle to follow your talk. those with hearing impairments, ADD. It shouldn’t be your speech. You may as well walk out of the room at that point. If it is your speech – read it word for word.
• If you email a powerpoint – most screen readers and other assistive technologies will struggle with it. Better to create a set of notes.
• If you create a set of notes to go with your presentation (which is only a guide) it will mean no one has to try and scribble down your every word while trying to listen to you. Helps everyone.
• Don’t talk to your presentation. No one can hear you when you talk to a wall behind you.
• Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them it. Then tell them what you told them. The old line, but it makes it much easier to pick up where you are if you miss something – especially if you’re deaf, blind, or have any learning difficulties.

Powerpoints are used more and more these days, and I think it’s very easy to be careless with them. Most of what I’ve mentioned here is general good practice anyway – but I hope it’s given you a different perspective and some more reasons on why these things are good practices.

 

Digidocs

Continuing on the issue of  making things accessible, one problem I frequently get asked about, and struggle with myself,  is making documents (eg job descriptions, information sheets, notes, application forms etc) accessible. It’s one of the bigger barriers out there for students/ employees with disabilities, espeically when it has to be dealt with on a day to day basis in work or studying.

Without even touching the area of training delivery and powerpoints (a whole other kettle of fish) , just foccussing on documents I’d just like to give this site a plug. NUIM have produced one of the simplest guides to accessible documents I know of. Yes, it’s aimed at students. Does that mean it’s irrelevant outside of college – definitely not! Popular when people find out about it, more often than not, people don’t know it exists. So, whatever you do, wherever you are, have a read, try and take on board some of the points enclosed and know that you are following best practice when you do. It’s not hard, and it’ll be of more benefit to more people than you can possibly imagine.

 

Accessible blogging

Thanks to the good folks in Ouch, I discovered this - a blog dedicated to accessible blogging. I know I have much work to do on this – but hopefully I’ll be moving this blog in the near future which will rectify those problems. Still plenty to learn from this very straightforward blog – well worth a read, especially if you’re a blogger!