Update Dec 2023: New Accessibility Training Videos
The Web and Digital Experience team have been working on bringing support to all services surrounding the topic of accessibility. With a readability video and document structure video already live and more to follow, keep up to date on Digital Accessibility pages available on Connects. From covering guidance on how to write for the web, to ensuring content is accessible with assistive technology, with an aim for this to become standard practice. With the digital world always changing and evolving, so should we!
ICT share their guide on how to make documents more accessible…
Accessibility is about making sure that content that you share digitally is created in a way in which anyone who needs to access the information can do so, and that nobody is excluded.
This means that we need to consider the different ways that people might access and consume this information, for example if they live with:
- visual impairment
- motor difficulties
- cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
- deafness or impaired hearing
“At least 1 in 5 people in the UK have a long-term illness, impairment or disability. Many more have a temporary disability.” Scope
As part of accessibility regulations for public sector bodies, North Ayrshire Council must ensure that documents uploaded to our websites and intranet meet international standards, called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.
There are hundreds of documents published on the Council’s websites and intranet (Connects).
Those of you who are responsible for creating these documents will have a knowledge and understanding of the steps required to build accessibility into your documents and carry out checks to ensure they are meeting legal requirements.
The Digital Experience Team (formerly Web Team) is actively working towards creating online resources to help document owners and creators to overcome some of the common issues that occur when creating documents.
The team will be continuing to add document and video guides to the Digital Accessibility section of Connects. Watch out for updates in the news section.
If you’d like more information about digital accessibility, please contact the Digital Experience Team: webteam@north-ayrshire.gov.uk, or you can request one to one support through the IT portal via Connects.
Digital accessibility is a huge subject. The Digital Experience Team continues to lead in providing support and guidance to colleagues across the council.We understand that the complexity and sheer amount of information available can be daunting. The are working towards creating more helpful content including an iLearn module to arm employees with the tools they need to become confident in digital accessibility.