Teaching Accessibility - How is digital accessibility taught and learned?
Digital technologies have transformed daily life. Yet capacity for producing accessible digital tools and services has not kept pace with demand, often resulting in digital exclusion for disabled people and older people.
To address this, ‘Teaching Accessibility in the Digital Skill Set’ is a research study (2019-2028) funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) that is investigating the teaching and learning of digital accessibility in computer sciences and the tech sector. They are developing a research-based understanding of accessibility pedagogy, so that teachers of accessibility, trainers and peer-educators in academia and industry have empirical research and evidence-based resources to use when developing their teaching.
This project is led by the University of Southampton.
AI and Accessibility Skills Workshop Insights
In partnership with Jisc, the University of Southampton is hosting a series of collaborative workshops on AI and Accessibility Skills during 2025-2027. These workshops bring together accessibility leaders, educators, researchers and practitioners from higher education, industry, policy, governance and research-intensive organisations across the UK to examine the evolving relationship between AI and accessibility professional practice.
Governmental Consultation Responses
University of Southampton's Response to the Digital Inclusion Action Plan
The project has created three engaging videos, with BSL-interpreted versions, to spur discussions in the second workshop:
Accessible to What? Disability, AI and the Politics of the Future
Prof. Hannah Morgan, Professor of Disability Studies, University of Leeds
Keep an eye out for the final video, due to become available soon:
The role of Access Workers and how we buy access?
Dr Louise Hickman, Wellcome Early Career Fellow, CRASSH, University of Cambridge
Dr Sarah Lewthwaite (Principal Investigator), Principal Research Fellow and Future Leaders Fellow at the Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School, University of Southampton
Dr Andy Coverdale, Research Fellow in the Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School, University of Southampton
Previous team members include Geane Fontinele (2023-2024), Sarah Horton (2020-2022, Visiting Fellow, 2022-2024) and Angharad Butler-Rees (2019-2020).
Please visit the Teaching Accessibility Project website for the latest information.