{"id":861,"date":"2019-04-18T07:53:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T06:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/landodlatestnews\/?p=861"},"modified":"2019-04-18T07:57:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T06:57:19","slug":"kent-digital-accessibility-working-group-kdawg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/landodlatestnews\/2019\/04\/18\/kent-digital-accessibility-working-group-kdawg\/","title":{"rendered":"Kent Digital Accessibility Working Group (KDAWG)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ensuring our digital content is accessible to all<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The University has joined forces with other public sector bodies to ensure Kent becomes a digitally inclusive county.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Kent Digital Accessibility Working Group \u2013 made up of the University and its \u2018Kent Connect\u2019 partners including local authorities, police and fire \u2013 aims to meet rules outlined in the\u00a0<\/span>Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations (2018)<\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Members of the group from across the University are already working on a training plan for all organisations involved, as well as adding to the team of experienced accessibility auditors across the county to ensure that all Kent websites are accessible to all.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Kent Digital Accessibility Working Group are also taking steps to ensure the University\u2019s own digital content is fully accessible. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The aim is to improve <\/span>access for all and this work compliments the Kent Inclusive Practices (KIPs)<\/a> that the University has already endorsed.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, the new web template \u2013 Site Editor \u2013 is designed to be highly accessible, and digital guidelines are being shared with schools and departments to help prepare content for those webpages.\u00a0i.e a review current content and removal of obsolete information.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The following principles can and should be applied to all digital material at Kent to help ensure a fully inclusive environment. They include:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep content simple<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep it efficient<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Make sure the text is accessible to other applications<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Structure your text with style sheets\/semantic tags<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ensure text can be personalised and reflows when magnified<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use short image descriptions known as alt-tags<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Test it!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You can see the <\/span>digital guidelines<\/a><\/span> for more detailed support and information.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The working group also have created a\u00a0<\/span>Digital Accessibility e-learning package in Moodle<\/a>\u00a0to give more detail about the regulations and how they will be <\/span><\/span>rolled out across the University of Kent.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To find out more about the work of the Kent Digital Accessibility Working Group, please see the terms of reference below.\u00a0For any questions in relation to the guidance please contact a member of the Kent Digital Accessibility Working Group. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contents<\/p>\n

Introduction\u00a0 1<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What do the regulations say?\u00a0 1<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the timeline for compliance?\u00a0 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Governance\u00a0 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Terms of reference\u00a0 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives\u00a0 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Membership\u00a0 4<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

References\u00a0 4<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>Introduction<\/strong><\/h1>\n

This paper proposes the initial founding, remit and membership of a University of Kent working group in response to the evolving Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations (2018)<\/a><\/u> (henceforth, \u2018The Public Sector Accessibility Regulations\u2019) which are now law in the UK and implement the\u00a0EU Directive on the accessibility of public sector websites and mobile applications<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

The Kent Digital Accessibility Working Group (KDAWG) will aim to understand the scope of the regulations to ensure consistent, sustainable, timely and meaningful compliance with the regulations to help Kent meet the requirements of the regulators and improve the experience of all students.<\/p>\n

The group builds on the Accessible VLEs<\/a><\/u> report by PolicyConnect<\/a><\/u> and will benefit from associated communications channels (e.g. JiscMail<\/a><\/u>: digitalaccessibilityregulations@jiscmail.ac.uk<\/u>) to contribute to the national conversation and assimilate central guidance and sector good practice. In addition, Kent staff are founding members of the Further\/Higher Education Digital Accessibility Working Group (FHE DAWG<\/a>) which seeks to benchmark sector approaches to the adoption of the regulations in order that this wider view can feed directly into the strategic direction at Kent.<\/p>\n

<\/a>What do the regulations say?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. The regulations require us to take action to ensure that relevant web content[1]<\/sup><\/a> and mobile applications comply with the international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard<\/a><\/u>.<\/li>\n
  2. The websites and applications of public sector bodies must include an \u2018accessibility statement\u2019 that will:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Inform the user of any non-accessible parts of the website and what alternative provision the institution has made to allow the user to access that information (e.g. phone support).<\/li>\n
    2. Provide a feedback mechanism for users and a link to the government’s enforcement procedure.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      <\/a>What is the timeline for compliance?<\/strong><\/h2>\n