References
4 Effective governance Effective teams have clear, agreed and common goals – their members must all be pulling in the same direction. (Creese and Earley (1999)) The DfES, LAs and a number of authors have set out their own definitions of the elements that make a governing body effective. They have generally included the following: having a sound knowledge of the school;
2.1 Introduction For governing bodies to work efficiently and effectively, some governors are needed to take on clear roles: the Chair; the Vice-chair; Chair for each governing body committee. All governors are entitled to an equal say and to serve on any of the governing body committees. However, some governors may wish to take an interest in a specific feature of the school. Such responsibilities might include; special educational needs; early years provision; health and safety; ICT; numeracy and lite
1 Members of the governing body Governors will have many demands upon their time and they must be sure that the time which they are devoting to school business is used wisely. Creese (1995) Governors are usually busy people with a genuine commitment to the school, but with limited time available. The governing body therefore needs to know, and use, the strengths of its individual members. The 2002 Education Act has brou
5.6.5 Software IBM, ‘Software accessibility’ guidelines and checklist, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center Trace Research and Development Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison,‘Application software design guidelines’
5.6.3 Accessible technology Arditi, A. (2005) Making Text Legible: Designing for People with Partial Sight, http://lighthouse.org/accessibility/legible/
Connell, B.R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M. and Vanderheiden, G. (1997) What is Universal Design? Principles of Universal Design, Trace Research and Development Center, Universi
5.6.1 Accessible mobile technology ETO Engineering, ‘Accessible cell phones’
Nuance TALKS: speech output for mobile phones
5.5 Activity task Return to the scenarios that you used in ‘Accessibility, pedagogy and reasonable adjustments’. Having now read the section on specifying accessibility, is there anything you would change in your own or other people's specifications to the software developers to ensure accessibility was included? Run the WebXACT accessibility checker on a web page. You can choose any page you like, perhaps a page you have developed, or one from your Favo
5.4.4 Using automated checking tools Another approach to testing website accessibility is the use of automated tools. These tools are useful for obtaining a quick overview of a site's accessibility and for checking technical accessibility. Examples of automated accessibility checking tools include: WebXACT: A free online service that allows people to test single web pages for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues. It is provided by Watchfire, who also offer Bobby, a desktop applicat
5.4.3 How to evaluate accessibility Accessibility guidelines and checklists can be used to evaluate a design or prototype. Despite the difficulties associated with the use of guidelines, they can be a useful tool for getting general insight into the accessibility of a website or system. As we discussed earlier, the main limitation of the use of guidelines or checklists is the fact that background knowledge of disability and assistive technology is required in order to effectively interpret and apply such guidelines. Once
5.4.2 When to evaluate accessibility Technical and usable accessibility should be evaluated throughout the design life cycle, just as general usability should be. As with usability, the earlier in the process accessibility is evaluated the more likely the final product will be both technically and usably accessible. Accessibility can be evaluated or tested in early ideas and paper designs as well as prototype systems, and different aspects of accessibility can be evaluated at these different stages. For example, the general acce
5.4.1 Aim of accessibility evaluation The aim of an accessibility evaluation is to assess the extent of the accessibility of the teaching resource: not to evaluate whether it is or is not accessible. In other words, the question to ask is ‘To what extent is this product accessible to people with a range of disabilities?’ rather than ‘Is this product accessible?’ An accessibility evaluation should assess both technical accessibility and usable accessibility.
5.3 Design guidelines and their limitations Having considered accessibility requirements and principles in ‘Specifying accessibility’, we now take a closer look at the guidelines that are available to support the development of accessible resources. Guidelines are available from many different sources and cover a variety of environments, from software and educational technology to websites and consumer electronics. As a starting point, ‘Accessibility design guidelines’ on the Resources page at the end of this section lists some
5.2.2 Key accessibility principles Below are listed 10 principles for accessibility. These principles underpin many of the sets of accessibility guidelines available, which are referred to in ‘Design guidelines and their limitations’. 1. Keyboard operation: the ability to operate applications fully via the keyboard. This means supporting the standard keyboard shortcuts available for the operating system, such as Alt+F4 to close a wi 4.3 Reasonable adjustments and responsibility In completing the accessibility activities the first three sections of this unit, you should have gained an appreciation of the range of challenges that might be anticipated. As technology and assistive technology develop, some barriers may be removed only to be replaced by new ones. It's useful to understand the principles that form the basis of adjustments, rather than simply following guidelines. The learning environment is constantly changing, as are the tools and skills of disabled stude 4.1.1 Disability discrimination legislation This activity uses the UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part 4 as the basis for discussing the concept of making reasonable adjustments. The DDA may not apply to you directly, but many countries have similar legislation. We feel the underlying principles of such legislation reflect the moral standpoint or the right thing to do, regardless of whether or not legislation exists. 3.13.7 Assistive technology software
Screen magnification
SuperNova Magnifier (formerly known as Lunar)Â from Dolphin Computer Access
SuperNova from Dolphin Computer Access ZoomText from Ai Squared Author(s): 3.13.6 Sources of funding for disabled students UK Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs)
Scotland Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs)
3.13.4 Sight impairment Deafblind, ‘Refreshable Braille displays’ RNIB, ‘About sight loss – changing the way we think about blindness. 3.10.3 Use of computers by people with other disabilities People with other disabilities/conditions may have difficulties with using computers or other devices. Some examples are listed below. People who have brain damage may have poor concentration or loss of short term memory. This may make it difficult for them to complete activities in a single session or to remember keystrokes or sequences of actions. Mental health issues may result in lack of concentration or engagement.
