Training

Accessibility drop-in clinic

Your opportunity to ask questions about digital inclusion.

  • Online
  • 1 hour
  • Free

This course will be held on

The Distractibles: An interactive peer-learning initiative to support neurodivergent staff and students 

This session presents the progress of a peer-learning initiative at The University of York, The Distractibles. This initiative gives neurodiverse individuals a way to communicate their needs and what meets those needs, to help each other and potentially inform decision makers. 

Started during the pandemic by a student, the peer group has been nurtured online, at first due to necessity, but continued for its ability to increase inclusion and, as a consequence, diversity. By highlighting tools, strategies and tricks they have found helpful, members provide relevant peer support for one another. 

A key aspect of this initiative is the ‘digital footprint’ left by attendees on a ‘live’, online document during meetups or on an online community platform, enabling the co-creation of an online toolkit full of community sourced tools and strategies to support those who are easily distracted.   

In this session, the team from University of York will present the background to this initiative and run a mini-Distractibles meetup for attendees to experience. They will discuss potential next steps, where they will very much welcome ideas and suggestions. 

Presenters: Amanda Hickey, Lilian Joy and Jordan Cook, University of York.

About the clinic

Are you struggling to meet web accessibility regulations? Or reshaping your digital provision to make teaching and learning more inclusive?

This live online accessibility clinic gives you the opportunity to ask questions about digital inclusion, provide feedback on areas that are problematic, and share your accessibility journey with others. 

During the clinic you'll:

  • Have an opportunity to share your experiences with and learn from like-minded people at different stages of developing accessible policy and practice
  • Gain feedback and support on any areas that may have been problematic
  • Get signposting to other resources and links to communities of practice where appropriate
  • Establish links with people working to overcome the same problems
  • Get the opportunity to shape the Jisc offer in this area

The sessions will be led by subject specialists Laura Hutton and Kellie Mote, with input from colleagues and recognised specialists.

Accessibility clinics will run from 12:30 to 13:30 on the first Wednesday of each month in the academic calendar. 

Session preparation and setup

Before the clinic, please read below to ensure successful access.

  • The clinic will be run in Zoom, with live automated captioning and transcription. For the best experience, download the Zoom client for your device
  • You'll also need a headset, or headphones and a microphone
  • Please sign in using your full name
  • Participants’ microphones will be muted on entry. If you would like to speak, please use the raise hand tool or the chat pane to indicate this
  • We'll be taking questions during the clinic, which you can submit in the chat pane
  • If you will be using BSL interpreters through Access to Work and require permission to 'pin' interpreters, please let us know

Who should attend

Anyone from a Jisc member organisation (UK further education colleges, specialist colleges or higher education institutions). 

Contact

For more information, email training@jisc.ac.uk or phone 01235 822242.

Professional training

Looking for something more in-depth, with a smaller group of professionals, or just for your organisation?

Jisc provides a range of short courses to build your confidence in implementing accessibility and assistive technology. Courses are delivered online throughout the year, or if choosing inhouse delivery, at a time to suit you and your colleagues. Participants can also earn digital accreditation to evidence their development. Learn more about Jisc’s accessibility and assistive technology short courses.

Clinic recordings

November 2022 - Captioning innovations and best practice

Download a transcript of the November clinic (.docx).

View full playlist

Watch all accessibility drop-in clinic recordings on YouTube.