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Further Education Minister Unveils Improved Accessibility Tools for FE Sector
24 October 2008
Siôn Simon, MP, Minister for Further Education at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) recently unveiled these new accessibility guidelines, designed to ensure that teachers and trainers find the right guidance to widen participation and support all learners, at an event at Lewisham College.
Produced for LSIS by JISC TechDis, a leading educational advisory service in accessibility and inclusion, the materials are available exclusively on the Excellence Gateway - the national online service for those working in the further education system in England. Grouped into eight categories (users who have difficulty seeing things; hearing things; understanding things; concentrating; handling and manipulating things, communicating with others, difficulty accessing text; or are dyslexic) the resources will enable staff to create effective, engaging and accessible learning materials.
The Minister was joined by Roger McClure, chief executive of LSIS at one of the first events of the new sector-led FE improvement body. Also speaking was Kevin Carey, Director of HumanITy, who advised on the creation of the materials, and a learner and tutor from Lewisham College who discussed the day-to-day reality of improvements in accessibility.
Kevin Carey is uniquely placed to provide guidance because of his long involvement in education, his expertise in accessibility and his standing as a blind author and speaker: “There is no single solution for accessibility, and often the most time-consuming and expensive adjustments are not always the most effective. These accessibility guidelines available on Excellence Gateway will help teachers to adapt and personalise delivery to all learners.”
Siôn Simon, MP, Minister for Further Education said: “The FE sector has, at its core, the needs of learners and these accessibility guidelines will ensure that all learners can unlock their talent in an amazing and innovative way. As the new minister in this area, I would also like to congratulate LSIS which has supported the production of this toolkit and shown that, as a newly-formed organisation, it regards equality and diversity as a priority.”
In addition to the accessibility guidelines, the Excellence Gateway incorporates some 50 education websites and an impressive resource bank comprising more than 75,000 pages and 12,000 separate pieces of content. LSIS has joined forces with a number of partners to centralise resources on the portal including the Ofsted Good Practice Database, the Becta technology exemplars and evidence from the nine JISC Regional Support Centres. Registration and use of the Excellence Gateway is completely free by visiting http://excellence.qia.org.uk
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