text: Promoting Universal Accessibility in Higher Education: The role of IT
  Starts: Monday 25 March 2019 at 09:00
  Ends: Monday 25 March 2019 at 16:00
  The keynote address is provided by, Professor Richard Jackson from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College in Massachusetts. Richard is also an advisor for CAST, the US-based organisation which provides guidance on how best to implement Universal Design for Learning right across the educational lifecourse. Richard has a particular interest, and strong research tradition, in sharing how accessible technologies can assist to realise that goal.
  The seminar also features a case study from Ashiya Abdool Satar from UNISA, the largest online university in Southern Africa. UNISA harnesses IT potential to ensure a diverse body of students, across a vast geographical space, is enabled to access Higher Education. The seminar also provides insights into sector-leading initiatives within the UK that enhance accessible and inclusive practices. For example, colleagues from the University of Kent, whose OPERA initiative won the Times Higher Education award for Outstanding Support for Students, will illustrate how a systematic approach to universal digital accessibility has transformed the student experience.
  Crucially, the seminar will also provide a forum to explore how University teaching staff and support services can learn from partnerships with industry, and from initiatives with other stakeholders such as library and information services, in this instance the HIVE at the University of Worcester, so that the economic potential and social well-being of our wider communities are markedly enhanced through the mainstreaming of accessible technologies in society.