Lesson video

Hello.

My name is Mrs. Holborow, and welcome to computing.

I'm so pleased that you've decided to join me for the lesson today.

In today's lesson, you'll be exploring digital accessibility and how accessibility features and inclusive design can reduce barriers.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit, School blog: Digital inclusion.

This lesson is called Digital accessibility and inclusive design.

And by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how inclusive design reduces barriers to digital accessibility.

Shall we make a start?

We will be exploring these keywords throughout today's session.

Let's take a look at them together now.

Accessibility.

Accessibility.

Consideration of design so that what is created is usable by everyone.

Screen reader.

Screen reader.

A software application that helps people who have difficulty seeing to access and interact with digital content.

Alt text.

Alt text.

A short description added to images, charts, and graphics that is designed to help people understand images that they cannot see.

Look out for these keywords throughout today's lesson.

Today's lesson is broken down into two parts.

We'll start by identifying accessibility features, and then we'll move on to explain how inclusive design reduces barriers.

Let's make a start by identifying accessibility features.

Take a look carefully at this graphic.

The left-hand side of the picture is demonstrating equality, and the right-hand side of the image is demonstrating equity.

Equality is about giving everyone the same thing, so you can see everyone's been given the same box to watch the game.

Another example is a teacher who uploads a video for a lesson.

Everyone has access to the same video.

Equity is about giving people what they need to succeed.

So you can see now the person who didn't need the box in the first place doesn't have it, the person in the middle now has two boxes so they can see the game, and the person in the wheelchair now has a ramp so that they can get up and see the game as well.

Another example with our teacher is that the teacher uploads the same video, but with captions, an audio description, and adjustable playback speed.

This means that students with different needs get what they need to access the learning.

Okay.

Time to check your understanding.

I have a true or false question for you.

Equity is about giving everyone the same resource or access.

Is this true or false?

Pause the video whilst you have a think.

Well done.

That's false.

This is actually the definition for equality.

Remember, equity is about giving people what they need to succeed, and that might not be the same for everyone.

Digital accessibility means designing technology so it can be used by people with a variety of different needs.

So these needs may be visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical impairments, or neurodivergent conditions.

Digital accessibility is about ensuring equity of access in digital products.

Inclusive design aims to remove barriers from the start, rather than adapting later.

So imagine you're building a school.

Option one is to build the stairs first and then add a ramp after.

Option two is to design the entrance with both stairs and a ramp at the start.

Inclusive design is like option two.

Different users are considered in the design stages and planning is done for a range of needs so fewer changes are needed later.

Let's now have a look at some accessibility tools.

Screen readers.

A screen reader is a software application that helps people who have difficulty seeing to access and interact with digital content, like websites or applications.

The application reads out loud what is on the screen, and users can adapt to their needs, for example, the speed or the language.

Screen readers also allow people to navigate through websites and applications via speech.

Some screen readers can also be used with a braille display.

Alt text or alternative text is a short description added to images, charts, and graphics that is designed to help people understand images that they cannot see.

Screen readers read alt text out loud and are key feature of accessibility.

Alt text is also useful if an image does not load correctly on a website or app.

Let's have a look at this example.

So we have the image of a dog and the alt text is, "Cartoon illustration of a small brown, black and white dog with floppy ears sitting and smiling, facing slightly to the right.

" This really describes the image so if somebody cannot see it, they can still understand what the image shows.

Captions.

Captions, or subtitles, show spoken words as text in videos and animations.

Captions often include a text transcription of both dialogue and any important sounds within the video, such as laughter, ringing phones, or footsteps.

High color contrast.

High-contrast colors are pairs from opposite sides of the color wheel that maximize readability and accessibility.

Using high-contrast colors makes sure that text stands out clearly from the background.

So here you can see the yellow and the purple are on opposite sides of the color wheel, so they're high contrast, whereas the dark orange and the lighter orange are next to each other on the color wheel, so this would be low-contrast colors.

Simplified language, readable text, and clear navigation.

Consistent layouts and clear navigation make it easier for everyone to find what they're looking for.

High-contrast text and readable fonts improve readability for all.

Many users may struggle to read large blocks of text, so using simplified language can improve accessibility for all users.

Okay.

Time to check your understanding with a question.

Which of the following is an accessibility tool that helps people with visual impairments?

Is it a, captions, b, screen reader, or c, simplified language?

Pause the video whilst you have a think.

Did you select b, captions?

Well done.

Captions are suitable for people with hearing loss or impairment.

Okay, we're now moving onto our first task of today's lesson, task A.

Sam wants to create a website for their school football club.

The website will include match updates, photos, videos, and information about how to join the team.

Sam wants to make sure everyone can use the website, including people with different needs.

What should Sam consider when designing the website to make it accessible?

Pause the video whilst you think about your answer.

How did you get on?

Did you manage to think about Sam's example?

Well done.

Let's have a look at a sample answer together.

Remember, this is only a sample answer, so your answer may differ slightly, and that's fine.

Sam should think about digital accessibility so everyone can use the website.

Sam should add alt text to images so screen readers can describe the pictures to people who are blind or have a visual impairment.

Any videos on the website should include captions so people who have hearing loss or a hearing impairment can follow what is being said.

Sam should also make sure that the website has good color contrast, so text is easy to read and doesn't blend into the background.

The text should be clear and simple with an easy-to-Use layout so everyone can understand it.

Did you spot the accessibility features in that answer?

Well done.

Okay, we're now moving on to the second part of today's lesson where we're going to explain how inclusive design reduces barriers.

Have you ever struggled to use a website or an app?

What made it difficult?

If you can, maybe discuss this with a partner or a friend.

Sam says, "Small text that was difficult to read.

" That's a good example.

Sofia says, "Complicated navigation that made it difficult to find information.

" Alex says, "Poor color contrast that made the text difficult to read.

" Did you have some similar experiences?

A barrier is something that makes it difficult for someone to access or use.

Inclusive design reduces barriers by providing multiple ways to access information, making content easy for everyone to understand, and improving the overall user experience.

Sometimes we refer to this as UX.

Okay.

Time to check your understanding.

I have a true or false statement for you now.

The only people who benefit from inclusive design are people with disabilities or additional needs.

Is this statement true or false?

Pause the video whilst you have a think.

Did you select false?

Well done.

Inclusive design improves the overall user experience for all users.

It's not just important for people with disabilities.

For example, if a website or app is difficult to navigate, that's going to be difficult for all users.

Screen readers help people who have a visual impairment, as they can hear the information that is presented on screen.

But screen readers are also useful for people who find reading large sections of text difficult.

Options help people with hearing loss or hearing difficulties, but they can also be useful if someone is watching a video in a noisy location or cannot play the sound out loud, for example, on a quiet carriage on a train or in a library.

High color contrast helps users by making text and visuals clearer.

Inclusive design principles also mean that color should not be relied upon alone to convey meaning.

If we just had the buttons below and we had some text that said, "Click the green button to continue," not all users would be able to see or understand which button to click.

So, we would have to add some text to the button that said something like, "Click here to continue.

" Web content accessibility guidelines, or WCAG, are an international standard that explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

WCAG covers websites, applications, and other digital content.

Level AAA is the highest level of conformance and would make sure that your website was accessible to a wide range of audiences.

Okay, time to check your understanding.

I have a question for you.

Which option best explains how inclusive design reduces barriers?

Is it a, it makes content easy for everyone to understand, b, it removes accessibility features to simplify design, or c, it provides multiple ways to access information?

Pause the video whilst you think about your answer.

Did you select c?

Well done.

Inclusive design reduces barriers because it provides multiple ways to access information.

Okay, we're moving on to our final task of today's lesson, and you've done a fantastic job, so well done.

For task B, I'd like you to explain one way inclusive design reduces barriers and give an example.

Pause the video whilst you have a go at the task.

How did you get on?

Did you manage to explain how inclusive design reduces barriers?

Well done.

Let's have a look at a sample answer together.

Inclusive design reduces barriers by giving people different ways to access the same information.

For example, adding captions to a video reduces barriers for people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment because they can read what is being said instead of relying on the sound.

Did you use a similar example, or was yours something different?

Okay, we've come to the end of today's lesson, Digital accessibility and inclusive design, and you've done a fantastic job, so well done.

Let's summarize what we've learned together in this lesson.

Digital accessibility means designing technology so that it can be used by people with a variety of different needs.

Inclusive design aims to remove barriers from the start, rather than adapting things later.

Accessibility features include screen readers, captions, alt text, and color contrast tools.

Accessible design benefits everyone, not just people with disabilities.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson, and I hope you'll join me again soon.

Bye.