Accessibility Allies

---

We share these materials as part of our presentation Accessibility Allies at the University of Southampton. The content may contain errors or omissions. We share this on a best-efforts basis.

Presentation materials

PowerPoint presentation: Accessibility Allies at the University of Southampton. [85.1MB, PowerPoint]

More information and materials are on the AbilityNet website.

Presentation recording

What is Blackboard Ally?

Watch these videos for an overview of Blackboard Ally from both the student and staff perspective:

• Blackboard Ally – Alternative formats [2 minutes / YouTube]
• Using the Accessibility Indicators [2.5 minutes / YouTube]
• Using the Accessibility Summary [2.75 minutes / YouTube]

Artefacts and assets

Advertising and interviewing

• Job advert.
• Job specification.
• Interview questions.
• Example document with accessibility issues. We asked applicants to identify how they would remediate the document.

Preparation

• Eleven-week plan. This was our original plan which we deviated from quite quickly.
• “How to Ally” document. The guide we created for our interns to understand the process, the issues that Ally identifies, and how to remediate these issues.

Training Materials

• We used a course based on the Accessibility and Me materials from AbilityNet.
• Microsoft Accessibility fundamentals.
• Creating accessible documents in Word and Adobe Acrobat (LinkedIn Learning).
• Giving a damn about accessibility.
• The Bootcamper’s Guide to Web Accessibility.

Team formation

• Making a team charter
  • Instructions
  • Team charter the allies created
• Responsibility assignment matrix

Debriefing module leads

• PowerPoint Template for Module Debriefs

Other links and assets

• The Teaching and Scholarship Podcast: “Blackboard Ally – How to provide accessible content – a discussion with Digital Learning Interns, Charlotte and Emily”
• Blog posts
  • From online learning to an Accessibility Ally
  • An Accessibility Allies intern journey
  • Goodbye to our Accessibility Allies intern team
• Videos
  • Blackboard Ally – Alternative format video
  • Blackboard Ally – Alternative format animation
• Instagram Takeover Resources

An institutional approach

Remediation of module content is only one aspect of digital accessibility within a University. An institution-wide approach means that we consider digital accessibility in everything a University does, from IT services, through procurement, communications, teaching and so on. It requires policies and processes so that accessibility is not an “add-on” or “extra” but just part of what we do.

What would an IT accessibility policy look like?

Together with UCISA we are running a session about implementing accessibility within the policies and processes of a University IT department. Find out more about this event on the UCISA website.