Introduction
You’re listening to a podcast from Media Access Australia. Inclusion through technology.
Philip Jenkinson:
I’m speaking with Dr Scott Hollier, Media Access Australia’s Specials Advisor, Digital Accessibility, and senior lecturer of the Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility, the PCWA. This university-accredited web and digital access course has been operating since 2011, and over 500 people have graduated with an internationally recognised qualification. What’s more, the PCWA was officially praised for educational achievement in the highly respected Knowbility 2017 Heroes of Accessibility Honours List. First up Scott, you must have been pretty chuffed on hearing the news?
Dr Scott Hollier:
It’s always great news to get acknowledgement for what has been a great journey with the course, and it’s particularly great for our alumni because what it really does demonstrate is that the course is of high quality and it’s really meeting the need for bringing accessibility into work practices. So we’re all delighted, it’s a real team effort to progress the course and work towards it, and while you’d never seek these things, it’s always really nice when you’re acknowledged for it.
Philip:
Fantastic, and what did motivate you to set up the course in the first place?
Scott:
Well associate professor Denise Wood and I at the time, we were in a meeting relating to disability and technology and we were both aware that the WCAG 2 standard came out in 2008, so just after that we wanted to see if there was some way we could help accessibility be incorporated into work practices for industry professionals and Denise is already switching a course, related to accessibility, as part of her role at the University of South Australia. And so we basically thought, well I wonder if there’s a way we can set up a short course or something to support industry professionals? So the conversation led from there and it took about 2 years to pull it all together and develop the curriculum and get the agreements sorted out, but ultimately in 2011 we were able to bring this course out there, and it’s always a bit of a gamble I guess when you put a lot of effort into something and you’re not sure if the demand is there, but happily—because of the WCAG 2 standard and people seeking guidance on its support the demand was there and the course has been going ever since.
Philip:
Brilliant, and Scott, as a legally blind person yourself, what are some of the big issues that this course addresses for people living with disability?
Scott:
One of the things we stress in the PCWA is to make sure that people who do the course do have a really good understanding as to what accessibility issues are for people with disability before we get into the more technical requirements, what to do. Ultimately, it’s been our experience that once people have undertaken that first assignment that focuses on the usage periods, and by that we let people try using a screen reader and just complete some basic tasks, once people have gone through that process and they understand that the website that they use every day at work is experienced differently by people for example, who are blind and vision impaired such as myself, that sort of light bulb moment happens. And people go, ‘Oh okay, I get why this is important now and I get why I really can make a difference with this.’ And so from that point on, the course really then sets it up in what you can do from a practical way. So in the sense of myself being legally blind, and other people with disability, it’s good to start the course with that understanding of the user experience and then lead onto the more technical things after that.
Philip:
Yes, and that actually leads me to ask you — the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines all have a 2.1 update sometime in 2018 — does the course cover what will be included in that, along with the access implications?
Scott:
It does, and in fact we already talk about WCAG 2.1 as the draft continues to evolve. One of the things that the course has been praised for, and I think part of the Knowbility awards acknowledgements, is that before every intake we update the course to the latest happenings, so around the world internationally with WCAG W3C and other sources, so that’s the critical thing when you’re delivering online learning, that the course is always up to date. So when you talk about WCAG 2.1 we have a look at some of the interesting things that have popped up in the draft process so far and we actually talk about that as well — the next generation of accessibility guidelines down the track. So one of the things that people can always be assured of if they are undertaking the PCWA, is that they will be receiving not just the current information that’s relevant to their work, but also an awareness of what’s coming and how to prepare for that.
Philip:
Oh that’s great. Disability broadly encompasses hearing, vision, cognitive and mobility; does the PCWA impart knowledge and skills across the disability spectrum?
Scott:
It does, and the power of the WCAG standard is really to ensure that that’s the case, so rather than optimising websites purely for a particular type of assistive technology, at which point it might work well for that technology but when you have other technologies it doesn’t work so well, the great thing about WCAG is that it does encompass a range of disabilities and trying to cater for those different disabilities. So when people do the course and they do learn about the success criteria of WCAG and how to achieve that, and also our focus, what differs a little bit from other courses, is that we focus very much around the altering tools and the tools that our students are using in their workplace every day, and once you have an understanding as to how to implement WCAG and how to get those accessibility features happening in your tools then you can be reasonably confident that you are addressing interests and that’ll be across a range of disability groups and technologies. And so from that point it’s a lot easier to fix specific issues if people still have issues, but the great thing about the course is it does give students the confidence, based on international standards, the ability to create accessible content, yeah across the disability spectrum.
Philip:
Great. Doctor Scott, online is now so all-consuming, in fact the line between online and offline is really blurring with apps, websites and mobile devices part of our everyday lives. Is the PCWA regularly updated before each intake to stay current?
Scott:
Yes absolutely, and one really important thing as you say, is around app developments. So the course when we started in 2011 was very much focused purely on websites, but as things have evolved, as we’ve become more reliant on mobile — and in fact generally people use mobiles more to access online content, be it through the mobile web browser or apps, it’s important that the course also caters for that need. So we do look at the ability to understand how WCAG applies to mobiles and that, it’s in the form of the WCAG 2 note, and in addition, a big focus of WCAG 2.1 is around how it applies to apps and the mobile works. So importantly, the course does cater to that at the moment, but certainly as WCAG 2.1 continues to evolve the course will evolve with it and then we’ll have that really clear guidance on how to ensure that WCAG applies to apps.
Philip:
Terrific. And finally Scott, a curly one for you. Why should people who work in online programming, content, marketing, project management, design or development roles, take this course?
Scott:
Oh that is a curly one! Basically because it does cater for the needs of a variety of roles in providing support in implementing accessibility. So what I would say is that people who are adopting accessibility in a variety of different roles, be it web development or design or certainly marketing social media communications, there’s lots of ways you can get understanding as to how to bring the parts of WCAG that are relevant to your role into your work practices, and really, a big focus of the course is to give you that hands on practical experience, both in terms of how people with disability use technology and also the relevance of the WCAG standards in your work. So there’s a lot of opportunity; as the course progresses there are a few assignments to help you ground that knowledge, and also myself and my colleagues are very happy to support that learning.
Philip:
Thank you for your time today Scott.
Scott:
Oh thank you Philip!
Conclusion
This podcast was presented by Media Access dot org dot au.
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