Investing in digital accessibility

A major focus for the Digital Transformation programme is enabling a better user experience for all members of the collegiate University, making sure our digital capabilities align with the accessibility standards we expect.  

Recently we caught up with Ben Tillyer, the newly appointed Head of Digital Accessibility, to understand how this fits into Digital Transformation. Ben joins us from HSBC, where he worked to ensure that all of its digital systems worked for its staff members with disabilities. Ben has also consulted for and tested the accessibility of big brands such as Amazon, Facebook, McDonalds, as well as various parts of the UK Government and NHS trusts. He is a named contributor to the international standards on accessibility WCAG, and is a co-founder of A11y North, a charity that facilitates networking and awareness around digital accessibility north of the M25. 

What is accessibility?  

Accessibility is the practice of providing equitable access to services for everyone including, but not limited to, staff and students with disabilities.  

The new Digital Accessibility team focuses on websites, apps and other digital systems, rather than printed media and buildings, that are handled by other teams around the University. 

It is a common misconception that people with certain disabilities cannot use the web and have to rely on support workers or specially created PDF versions of existing content. This is in fact only the case when digital content has been created without considering their needs to begin with. 

The free Introduction to Web Accessibility course on edX created by the W3C is a fantastic way to learn about the topic. The Digital Accessibility team will also be releasing courses onto CoSy later on in the year.  

Why is Digital Transformation investing in accessibility? 

The most accessible systems are the ones where the needs of all users are considered at the start, not retrofit after the fact. Retrofitting accessibility is ultimately more costly, time consuming and disruptive to all involved.  

A period of digital transformation is a key opportunity to ensure that new systems and software being built or bought by the university are fit for purpose from the minute they are made available to you.   

In our move to agile product delivery, we can solidify the idea that accessibility is not a checkbox exercise and is instead included throughout the development process. Agile will allow us to continuously engage with user feedback and define the acceptable level of accessibility within each product’s definition of done, so that accessibility related defects remain at the forefront of development considerations and do not find themselves lost within an ever-growing backlog of work, instead adapting priorities as and when they are identified. 

How has the increased adoption of AI changed the digital accessibility landscape? 

The advancements in AI have been a double-edged sword for accessibility. Some companies have used AI to sell products claiming to meet the needs of people with disabilities but have in fact ended up making things worse for them, such as for blind internet user Patrick Perdue, who was suddenly unable to shop at his usual online amateur radio shop when one of these AI-driven one-line solutions was implemented on the previously usable website. 

On the other hand, tools such as Microsoft Copilot have had a profound impact on people with disabilities. This video from Microsoft demonstrates some of the ways that AI has opened doors for people with disabilities. For example, CoPilot’s ability to aid content creation and correction can be used by those with dyslexia to drastically increase the speed and accuracy of report or email authoring, which can in turn decrease levels of stress that can be associated with dyslexia in the workplace. 

What’s next for the digital accessibility team and how can the wider University get involved? 

Our team is exploring what a digital accessibility policy for the University of Oxford might look like, and what supporting documents and guidance would be useful to have alongside with it.  If you have ever developed any guides on creating accessible content in your area, want to become involved in future accessibility policy focus groups, or want to become more involved in digital accessibility more generally, please reach out to us at digital.accessibility@it.ox.ac.uk.