To what extent does our Moodle design template support inclusive practice in relation to neurodiverse and disabled students?
The aim of this enquiry is to generate new knowledge about the experience of neurodiverse and disabled students when using Moodle pages designed according to a template which aims to be accessible and inclusive. This knowledge will allow us to tailor the template to better meet students’ needs and make more informed recommendations to course teams as well as the digital learning community across UAL.
Objectives:
Survey students on the BA Product and Industrial Design course at CSM who are neurodiverse, using an online questionnaire.
Facilitate one (or more) focus groups to have an in-depth discussion about Moodle usage, barriers and positive features.
In undertaking this project I’m conscious of my own positionality. I’m not disabled or neurodivergent and I’m not professionally trained in this area. My motivation comes from a desire to remove barriers to learning and to address systemic factors which marginalise different groups of people. Coming from a student-centred pedagogical background and now working in the digital learning environment, I feel we are well placed to address these digital accessibility barriers from a practical point of view and from a social justice perspective we have a moral imperative to do so. I also feel strongly that this is about more than digital accessibility (although this is important), but about using Moodle to help create a more level playing field for everyone, including other marginalised groups, and acknowledging the intersectional nature of many of these barriers.
There is more about my rationale in Rationale: Moodle, disability and social justice. Here, I thought it would be useful to briefly look at some of the different perspectives on neurodiversity and disability, particularly in higher education.
Neurodivergence is a complex term and those who are neurodivergent are best placed to determine the language and their own preferences in terms of how they identify. Bearing that in mind, neurodivergence is, however, often used to describe neurological difference such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and ADHD, or Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) and according to ACAS ‘Being neurodivergent will often amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010, even if the person does not consider themselves to be disabled’. (ACAS n.d.)
The use of the term neurodiverse is an approach which aims to describe and include a wide range of neurodevelopmental conditions, without pathologising them.
‘Neurodiversity is a relatively new term. It helps to promote the view that neurological differences are to be recognised and respected as any other human variation. It is used to counter negative social connotations that currently exist and to make it easier for people of all neurotypes to contribute to the world as they are, rather than attempting to think or appear more ‘typically’.’
(Neurodiversity and co-occurring differences, n.d.)
I’m not sure how useful it is to list common differences here, not least because neurodivergence is precisely about divergence and acceptance, and listing common differences might be a blunt tool as they will only apply in some cases. In addition, there is an argument where, since I am not a ‘disability expert’ it is more appropriate and useful in this context to focus on the common functional challenges neurodivergent people often face. I have discussed this, with clear examples, in another post ‘UX design for neurodiverse, visually impaired and disabled users‘.
As well as neurodivergent participants, I also asked for visually impaired or disabled students to contribute to my project and 3 of the 6 participants were visually impaired in different ways. Again, this is a particular area of disability where digital tools can be used in a functional and supportive way. For example creating material that is readable by a screen reader, navigable via a keyboard, ensuring good colour contrast, using an appropriately sized font and making good use of clear, graphical images or icons. It would also have been interesting to see what else we could do to meet the needs of people with a wider range of disability. This is something we will need to look at in future.
I would guess that neurodiverse students often ‘go under the radar’ in HE and are expected to find workarounds a lot of the time. Some people won’t have a diagnosis or don’t wish to declare, as well as those who are accessing support from the Disability Service but who don’t want to ‘stand out’ or be different from their peers.
‘Currently the onus is too often on neurominority students to find a longer way around to meet neuro-normative expectations. To transform practice, learning and teaching must be designed for a neurodiverse student body, and learning contexts created in which neurodivergent students are seen, understood and enabled to thrive.’
(Hamilton and Petty, 2023, p.3)
I’m not sure how much this is true for people who are blind or have mobility impairments. I suspect it’s still true, but in a slightly different way, where staff assume they are getting the help and support they need from the Disability Service and perhaps don’t consider what else can and should be done to remove potential barriers. Hamilton and Petty talk about the need to move away from this ‘medical paradigm’ and pathologising language, and towards a Universal Design for Learning approach, in which ‘…students, and especially those in minoritised groups, flourish in learning environments in which they feel that they belong and are valued.’ (Hamilton and Petty, 2023, p.4). This would include practical shifts like flexibility in the mode of assessment, presenting information in a variety of modalities, taking regular breaks, but also a shift in perspective where diversity is valued and nurtured.
Erevelles and Minear also talk about this deficit model of disability and align disability with other socially constructed ‘categories’;
‘CRT scholars (like other radical scholars) have mistakenly conceived of disability as a biological category…Disability studies scholars, on the other hand, have critiqued this ‘deficit’ model of disability and have described disability as a socially constructed category that derives meaning and social (in)significance from the historical, cultural, political and economic structures that frame social life.’
(Erevelles and Minear, 2010, p.7)
Erevelles and Minear also discuss the role of disability as a, or the, critical category when looking at intersectionality and its impacts. They highlight the fluid nature of the terms used to describe or diagnose some disabilities and they argue that Critical Race Theorists have not sufficiently acknowledged disability within intersectionality.
The National Autistic Society website highlights the intersectional difficulties faced by some people who are both black and minority ethnic and autistic, making it harder to get support when they need or want it. They quote Iqra Babar, an autistic artist;
“I love being an autistic, Muslim Pakistani woman. My identity in itself is so diverse, which I am really proud of! It does make it harder to live so freely however, with all of the stigma and discrimination that surrounds both autistic people and Muslims. Race and autism intersect a lot and talking about race in autism conversations is so important.”
(Autism and BAME people n.d.)
Meeting disability needs is still too often seen as an extra, something more to add to the workload, rather than something positive and creative. This is particularly challenging in the market-driven higher education environment in which we operate. However, I feel that there is a lot of scope for creating a more compassionate, inclusive environment at CSM but we need to be having these conversations more often in more teams and with more students. As Hamilton and Petty say, ‘Educators have a unique opportunity to cultivate compassion within the learning environments that we create.’ (Hamilton and Petty, 2023, p.4)
Bibliography:
ACAS (n.d.) What disability means by law: Definition of disability Available at: https://www.acas.org.uk/what-disability-means-by-law#:~:text=Attention%20deficit%20hyperactivity%20disorder%20(ADHD,consider%20themselves%20to%20be%20disabled (Accessed 17 January 2024)
British Dsyslexia Association (n.d.), Neurodiversity and co-occurring differences, Available at: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia/neurodiversity-and-co-occurring-differences. (Accessed: 17 January 2024)
Erevelles, N., & Minear, A. (2010). Unspeakable Offenses: Untangling Race and Disability in Discourses of Intersectionality. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies4(2), 127-145. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/390395. (Accessed 20 October 2023)
Hamilton, L. and Petty S. (2023) ‘Compassionate Pedagogy for Neurodiversity in Higher Education: A Conceptual Analysis’. Frontiers in Psychology 14 (16 February): 1093290. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093290. (Accessed: 17 January 2024)
For my data collection, I chose to use an online questionnaire and initially a focus group. The focus group, for practical reasons became a series of semi-structured interviews, but the overall design was very similar and in both I planned to use the prompts below, to help give the participants agency to direct the conversation as they chose.
For more information about the design of the online questionnaire, responses to feedback, and a detailed interview plan, please see the post: Research methods: Design.
Prompts – In the interviews, I wanted to give participants prompts, rather than a structured set of questions, just so that I didn’t lead the conversation too much and to allow them to prioritise the topics for discussion. The prompts were cut up and available on the table for participants to choose from and focus on as they wished.
Action taken: I think the first time I filled this in, I didn’t really have a clear idea about what was required, and I also had a lot of questions about which courses to focus on, etc.. Once I started reading more about ethics and had the first tutorial, it became clearer that I needed to be a lot more detailed.
I went through and addressed each of Rachel’s feedback points. On my miro board that I use for resources, I added all the links and made sure I’d read them all. As a result of this, I changed lots of the detail on gaining consent and managing the process of data collection. I also added a lot more information about the potential risks to participants and question 7 about working with vulnerable adults.
Thanks for sending over your latest draft – it’s comprehensive, detailed and responsive to your ARP and so very nearly there! Brilliant to hear about the contingency planning too.
In terms of feedback:
In section 1, I think these are more your research aims than objectives (the latter are usually the actions you’ll do to achieve the aims, which is AR here).
Action taken: I amended the objectives to focus on the forms of data collection.
In terms of the additional information on the focus group task stated in a side comment, I think it’s helpful to include this in the ethical enquiry form or a blog post that you signpost out to? I’ll leave this up to you.
Action taken: I’ve added a quote and referenced Standpoint theory in the form.
I’d embolden/make the please complete the participant consent form area stand out on the information sheet as it gets a little lost in the main text. If thinking about it in the context of accessibility and visibility too…
Action: I’ve made this bigger and bolder!
I’d be happy to sign off on all this once the updates are made so send over a final form that you’ve signed when ready and I’ll get it signed off. Also do upload the final form, with relevant links to your blog as a reference/record too.
Well done on this milestone Amy, you should be really pleased.
The ARP needs to be small. I need to not make it unwieldy.
I want to focus on some of the key features of our Moodle design:
headings, contextual information, use of colour, announcements block, chronological structure and naming conventions
staff presence (photos, tone of language, contact details)
invitations to ask for help – to ask for accessible documents, who to contact
I want to see to what extent this is helpful to participants specifically to who have a neurodivergence or those who don’t come from an academic background. I want the participants to be invested in the information, not just be looking at it from an aesthetic point of view. Therefore participants would need to be feeding back on a page/pages that are their own.
I asked Lindsay if I should focus on a particular group of students/staff – participants – and she said it would be great to get feedback from all of them. I definitely want to hear from neurodivergent participants – dyslexic participants would be good to hear how they respond to the contextual information in particular.
Who do I especially want to hear from? People with dyslexia, ADHD, people who are visually impaired and using a screenreader (this may throw up a lot more complex issues less about design and more about underlying meta data – very useful, but beyond scope?), people who are ‘new’ to academia, participants with English as an additional language.
From questionnaires given to students at the beginning and end of Moodle redesign projects and also from direct and indirect feedback, we have evidence that the design is beneficial and an improvement from the rather sparse, somewhat disorganised space that has previously existed. However, we don’t have a detailed, qualitative response specifically relating to the potential benefits in terms of inclusivity. It is this that I want to delve into.
What don’t I know?
A lot.
I don’t know which pages to focus on. I could focus on a page we have already ‘done’.
For example the FAD page:
In this scenario, I could probably quite easily find both staff and students from the different categories who would be willing to talk to me about their experience of the page. Both staff and students are ‘invested’ in that they need to find information from the page and so would be able to give more in-depth answers. Staff would probably have experience of other Moodle pages or the previous one. Students would be less likely to have knowledge of other Moodle pages given the level of their course. I wouldn’t have another version of a page without the work done to compare it to. Maybe this doesn’t matter as it’s not about asking if it’s an improvement, it’s about asking if it ‘works’, or not, and in what way(s). I guess that runs the risk of indifference. I wonder if it’s possible/advisable to offer a different version part way through, based on responses. E.g. if there was a feeling there is too much text, to present a version without and see how that compares.
Having done an evaluation of this project already, I already have evidence that staff and students broadly find the redesign an improvement and that it is very embedded in teaching.
The BA PID pages:
As a current project, both staff and students (from Stage 2 and 3 at least) would have experience of the previous version of the page which was organised but sparse. It could inform the development of the project almost immediately. I don’t currently already know whether staff and student responses are positive. (I do know that one dyslexic member of staff finds the text overwhelming in places.)
There might be a more immediate response to the changes and it might feel more live for participants. On the other hand, part of their reaction might be too much to the change, rather than the design features.
I wonder how may variables are too many here? It’s action research so does that mean I don’t need to worry so much about this? I’m thinking maybe I could get reactions to both pages (FAD and BA PID)? Perhaps it doesn’t matter because it’s about their response to features, rather than the specifics of the individual page… (I need to talk this through, I’m going to ask Sarah to help.)
One of the PG cert pages:
Sorry PG cert, but your Moodle pages seem a bit unloved in places 🙂
When I was discussing digital accessibility and inclusive practice with Kwame in Unit 2, we talked about the possibility of redesigning/helping with the PG cert site(s). I think this would be a good thing for the course, as there are places where Moodle works, and we do really need it, but other places where it’s just not clear where to find things. It’s also not very visually interesting for a course in an art and design university.
The benefits here would be that the potential participants in my project would be classmates and therefore perhaps willing to help with an ARP. There are a wide cross section of people on the course and so the groups I’m specifically wanting to focus on would probably be represented. There is a need for us to use the pages, and we all have direct experience of the original version, for comparison.
The potential drawback is that whilst it’s relatively easy to introduce the different design features in isolation from the course, my feeling is that they would lack depth without the accompanying co-design process that has been/is being done on the FAD and PID pages. This process involves talking to staff (academics, admin, technical and wider support team) and students to understand their needs and the structure/teaching on the course. The templates for the page(s) are then constructed around that, feedback, given and training and ongoing support provided. Part of the aim of the co-design process is to make sure the page meets everyone’s needs, and part is to ensure the course team own Moodle and see it as something that is part of the team to support students.
Without that process, I feel the result of the page would be compromised (although this is also something that could be usefully tested), even from a more superficial perspective. So I think this option would require a much greater time commitment (from me and the course team) and given the limited time available, maybe that would be inappropriate.
On the other hand, I can hear Lindsay’s voice saying ‘do something and see what happens’. Maybe that’s the right way to go, rather than looking at what I’m already in the process of doing with the PID pages.
Ok, that’s helped clear my mind a bit. I’m imagining interviews for this, but maybe there is something more creative to add, perhaps as something optional, particularly given the context? Off to think about ethics…
Just realised I didn’t answer my own question. What is my research question? I don’t really know what these things are meant to look like but here’s a go…
To what extent does the Moodle redesign template support inclusive practice?
In what ways does it, or doesn’t it, support students and staff who are neurodivergent, come from non-academic backgrounds, have visual impairments, or speak English as an additional language.
Does it help to break down barriers and create a welcoming space? Why? Why not?
Update:
I wrote this blog at the very beginning of this project and much has changed! For more information about how I came to focus on Neurodiverse and disabled students, please see: Rationale: Moodle, Disability and Social Justice.
Sarah and I had a bit of a chat about my reflections on what worked and what could have been better on my ARP:
As I mentioned in my conversation with Sarah, one of the things that comes next is the Changemaker project in the Digital Learning team at CSM. The hope is that the changemaker will be able to help with further testing and listening to students in order to inform the development of a Moodle template at CSM, to be piloted next year.
Referring to O’Leary’s cycles of research as shown in the diagram above, our previous development of Moodle is the ‘Act’ stage in the first cycle, my action research project is part of the ‘Observe’ and ‘Reflect’ stages in the second cycle and the next stage is to Plan and Act again. This will comprise of our work with the changemaker and within the team to devise the CSM Moodle template(s) and the further testing of them, and eventual implementation. This cycle will continue however, as each stage in the cycle builds on knowledge gained in previous cycles and implementation will involve further evaluation and development as the design becomes more complex.
Bibliography:
Koshi E., Koshi V. and Waterman H. (2011) Action research in healthcare SAGE publications Ltd, London
My name is Amy and I’m a Senior Digital Learning Coordinator at Central Saint Martins. I’ve worked at CSM since 2020, starting online in the middle of the pandemic. It was a big culture change for me as I had previously spent 17 years as an English Language Teacher and teacher trainer, most recently, 14 years at a Further Education College in North London. I worked with immigrant communities for a really long time and I am committed to breaking down barriers in education.
I realised during the course of this unit that I have had some barriers of my own, albeit not obvious ones. I always felt on the outside of academia, despite having a degree, good school exam results and family links to higher education. I realised my experience of almost failing my A-levels for want of a bit of study skills instruction, and dropping out of my first university, feeling invisible and unanchored, have perhaps helped shape some of what I want to do now to make students feel more welcome, to remove obstacles and make support more obvious and available.
In addition to this, in my professional life I come from a very student-centred pedagogy, where it’s all about listening to the students, providing guidance and support and trying to give them agency and independence. I think this has also shaped the way I’ve gone about this project (albeit very imperfectly, no doubt).
I’m just trying to write some things down after our tutorial today. Amongst other things there were two books recommended which offered some ideas about research methods. These were:
Universal methods of design [electronic resource]: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions, Bruce Hanington and Bella Martin
Creative Research Methods in Social Sciences, Helen Kara
I think I’m clear that a big part of my research is going to be through a focus group. However, as I will offer individual interviews as well and Hanington and Martin say, ‘The power of focus groups lies in the group dynamic that it creates.’ (Hanington and Martin, 2012, p.92). I’m not 100% sure that’s the right term or if it is, am I undermining it by doing individual interviews too. Would I be mixing methods too much? I’m not sure.
Despite this, the idea of a structured group discussion, in person, with around 6-8 participants is pretty clear in my mind. I’m sure I want to do this students, I need to work out if I have the capacity to do this also with staff.
Finding participants:
One of my questions is about the potential range of people I want to hear from. Is it too broad to focus on people who are neurodivergent, those from a non-academic background and those with English as an additional language. Lindsay said to go ahead with all of them, but Rachel said perhaps it’s best to focus on a smaller group and it might turn out that the groups overlap – intersectionality would most likely be a factor. Carys said that current practice in the Disability team is to ask for responses from all participants because not everyone identifies as disabled and by not asking for contributions from all, I could be inadvertently excluded disabled students.
If I have the permission of the BA course team, I am going to recruit by going in, in person to a teaching session, explaining the project and the aims – improving the design of the course Moodle pages and others at CSM – the methods and time needed. I’ll need to provide this information in different formats (written and verbal, perhaps a short video?) to be more inclusive, and provide an easy way to contact me. It might be best to focus on 2nd years in the first instance as they have experienced the previous version and still have reason to be invested. Q. Does it matter if some have experienced the previous version and some haven’t?
For staff, I could present the project in a team meeting, and ask if anyone who is willing to talk to me about it can let me know privately. I’m assuming that staff members may not want to disclose any neurodiversity or disability to the rest of the team.
Bibliography:
Hanington, B., and Martin B. Universal Methods of Design : 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions, Quarto Publishing Group USA, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central
I think that Moodle, or the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has an important role to play in creating a welcoming, accessible and inclusive space to students in higher education. Since the pandemic, there is a clear expectation from students, and often staff, that learning materials and course information will be available online. As Lonsdale et al. say, ‘(the pandemic) unveiled the many benefits of online teaching and learning as a complement to standard face to face delivery, such as accessible materials to all and innovative teaching approaches that have the student learning experience (i.e., an experience that adds value to the learner) at the centre.’ (Lonsdale et al., 2022)
The VLE has many potential purposes; it is a communication tool, a repository, it offers flexibility in the time and place to study, as well as digital accessibility. It can, therefore, enable students to access their course around their other commitments, or at a time or in a format that is more suitable to them, or via assistive technology, like a screen reader. This might apply to students (and staff) with work or caring commitments, illness, fatigue or who have mobility issues, for example. It could also help to support students and staff who are new to HE, through greater transparency and clarity about what is required and a breaking down of assumed knowledge.
However, this can only work if the course material is present, up to date, readable, locatable and written in plain language. From conducting Moodle projects over the past two years we know that students often find Moodle frustrating and difficult to use. Staff also tell us that they don’t like it. However, both staff and students use it, to varying degrees, and there is a expectation for it to work better for everyone. Poorly organised VLEs with hidden, poorly named, incomplete or inaccessible content creates frustration and raises barriers. Given the changing expectations we’ve seen since the pandemic, it also makes the university seem old-fashioned and out of step. How can we present ourselves as a radical, forward thinking place, when we can’t share key course information in a way that includes everyone?
Why focus on neurodiverse, visually impaired and disabled students and staff?
As I’ve discussed above, I think Moodle is important for all staff and students, not only those with a disability, and our learning design should reflect a commitment to be inclusive, as well as accessible. Good practice in these areas is, in any case, overlapping and mutually beneficial. I had thought about asking students from a range of groups to participate, e.g. international students, those from a non-academic background and neurodiverse and disabled students. However, I was uncomfortable about the prospect of grouping these students together, and somehow ‘othering’ everyone, I thought it might discourage participation. I also thought, given the scale of the action research project, focussing on a particular group might be more manageable. This was backed up by advice from Rachel. Of course, focusing on neurodivergent and disabled students doesn’t exclude others either since students and staff will have multiple and varied intersectional ‘identities’.
My professional context at CSM: I think it made sense to me to focus on this group because it links in well with work we already do on digital accessibility. Working in the digital learning context, digital accessibility is an area in which we can have a real impact and one in which there has been a lack of leadership and focus. My intervention in Unit 2 was about developing knowledge and awareness of inclusive practice in the digital learning teams, with a view to create cross-UAL guidance. As a result of this, we have created a cross-UAL working group to move this forward. In Unit 1, Sarah and I identified that one of the limitations of our work on digital accessibility and inclusion is that we don’t talk to enough disabled staff and students directly. This key element of our efforts was missing.
The UAL context: Another reason to focus on neurodivergent, disabled and visually impaired students and staff is that these groups are well represented amongst staff and students at UAL and at CSM in particular. In UAL’s 23/24 Census, 17% of students across UAL declared a disability, and 21% at CSM, the highest percentage of all colleges. (The 2021 national census showed 17.7% of the population in England declaring a disability.) In reality, the number of students and staff at UAL with a disability is likely to be much higher, with well known barriers to declaring, including stigma (common amongst some international students), a lack of a diagnosis or a wish to maintain privacy.
Looking at the UAL Dashboard data for attainment, it appears that disabled students achieve at a similar, if not higher rate than those who have not declared a disability. However, continuation and retention is an issue, with significantly lower rates of retention amongst undergraduate disabled students. Looking at data from 20/21 and 22/23, this seems to be an ongoing trend. Interestingly, there was a peak for the retention of students with a learning disability during the pandemic (2020/21). Perhaps this was due to teaching online and a more flexible learning environment? For postgraduate students the trend is similar. Continuation rates for postgraduate disabled students are much lower than for non-disabled students. In 2020/21, the most recent year there is data, 90.1% of non-disabled students completed, compared with 77.6% of students declaring a disability.
These data give only a rough idea of the experiences of students who declare a disability, and there will be many others not included. In addition, it gives no indication of the intersectional challenges that students are likely to be facing, nor the specific disabilities or learning differences students identify as having (the data is due to become more nuanced in this regard). However, I think it is fair to say that it indicates that there is room for improvement in the student experience for this cohort and making course information management more accessible and inclusive seems like a good start.
The social model of disability: The UAL Disability Service advocates the Social Model of Disability, which states that, ‘…people are disabled by the world around them, rather than by their impairment or difference.’ (UAL Disability Inclusion Toolkit, no date). In parallel with the need to make anticipatory adjustments (see ‘The law’ below), there is a strong argument here for creating a more equitable and inclusive online learning space.
UAL Video on the Social Model of Disability and what it means
The social model ‘looks at ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for disabled people….It embraces a view of the individual and individual difference as the source of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others.’ (Inclusive Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as a Route to Excellence, 2017)
UAL has an explicit focus on social justice. In the Social Purpose Implementation plan, UAL commits itself to ‘Build inclusive societies in which difference of all kinds is celebrated and valued.’ and ‘Build more equitable prosperity and wellbeing for all people.’ (Social Purpose Implementation Plan, 2023). In my view, a small but important thread of this in education is developing a VLE which offers reliability, flexibility, support, and and relevant, up to date information in a welcoming space, to everyone.
The law: A final compelling argument for my focus on ensuring that Moodle (and the hosted content) is accessible, is that it’s the law. Under the Equality Act 2010 we have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments which are anticipatory. This means we need to make these changes in advance of any student or member of staff declaring a disability. As the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance states:
‘The duty requires you to take positive steps to ensure that disabled students can fully participate in the education and other benefits, facilities and services provided for students.’ (EHRC Guidance, 2014)
Furthermore, the Public Sector Bodies (websites and mobile applications) Accessibility Regulations (PSBAR) 2018 set a clear threshold for public bodies, including HEIs; our digital content must meet the internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard by by Sept 2020, and WCAG 2.2 standards by October 2024. Failure to do so could mean UAL is subject to legal action.
Although compliance with the law is obviously essential, it hasn’t yet received clear, focussed attention at UAL and we in the Digital Learning teams have a role in helping that to happen. As I’ve said above though, it’s not just about compliance, but about creating a more supportive space for students and staff to work and learn.
Bibliography:
‘Census 2021’ (2023) Office for National Statistics Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/disabilitybyagesexanddeprivationenglandandwales/census2021 (Accessed: 10 January 2024)
Equality and Human Rights Commission (2014) ‘What Equality Law Means for You as an Education Provider – Further and Higher Education’. Available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/what_equality_law_means_for_you_as_an_education_provide_further_and_higher_education.pdf (Accessed: December 27 2023)
Lonsdale, M., Qin X., Chen Y., Green H., Algethami M., and Xu J. ‘The Power of Information Design in Enhancing the Organization of Information and Course Material in an Online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)’. Information Design Journal 27, no. 3 (31 December 2022): 235–77
Social purpose implementation plan – Short read (2023) Available at: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/documents/sppreview/1c50e2a5-ab34-4157-a23f-ae3d411f80ae 11 Oct (Accessed: 10 January 2024)
