Meeting digital accessibility standards: What you need to know

In our recent Education Executive article, we explored the Department for Education’s latest guidance aimed at assisting schools in meeting cybersecurity standards. Now, we’re turning our attention to the essential requirements for meeting digital accessibility standards

Ensuring digital accessibility for all is crucial for schools to maintain an inclusive approach to systems management and usage. Every individual should have the ability to access the same information and use equipment, regardless of their needs and circumstances. Schools may need to evaluate their current users and usage patterns to ensure compliance with these standards, which are designed to address broader accessibility requirements. Additionally, standards for personalized assistive technology should be assessed on a case-by-case basis for individual staff members.

Ensure relevant strategies and policies

Ensuring relevant strategies and policies for digital accessibility is essential to remove barriers to teaching and learning, make informed purchasing decisions, and meet legal requirements on equality and access. In addition to involving your Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in decision-making regarding digital accessibility strategies and policies, schools should seek input from SEND leads, curriculum and department leads, administrative staff, governors, and the wider school community.

Your digital accessibility policies should be integrated into your overall digital technology strategy and may also be included in your SEND or curriculum policies. These policies should outline the school’s accessibility needs, how these requirements will be addressed, and how the policies and measures will be communicated. It is important to review these policies regularly alongside your digital strategy evaluations.

Support the use of accessibility features

In the UK, one in five people has a disability, highlighting the importance of accessibility for all individuals. Students, staff, parents, and carers may have varying needs depending on their situation and the systems they are accessing. Many systems already include accessibility features such as speech-to-text, zoom, and reading adjustments.

To ensure digital accessibility, it’s crucial to collaborate with your IT team when procuring new technology. This involves ensuring that any hardware and software purchased have digital accessibility integrated into their design or features. Additionally, it’s vital to confirm that existing accessibility features are compatible with the chosen hardware and software.

Ensure communications are accessible

Ensuring communications are accessible is essential to support students, staff, parents, and carers, particularly those with additional needs such as special educational needs, disabilities, and English as an additional language (EAL). This includes examining all forms of communication, including websites, email attachments, text messages, and social media.

Schools should ensure that staff are trained on accessibility and can write and access content in an accessible format. If unsure, staff should know who they can seek guidance from, such as the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), IT support, or the SLT digital lead.

As with previous articles in this series, the above information provides a brief overview of the standards. We strongly encourage school business leaders to visit the gov.uk website for a detailed examination of the standards.

In the next article in this series, we will explore digital leadership and governance standards.