Universiteit Leiden

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Digital accessibility

The digital accessibility expert group focuses on improving the accessibility of the university website, digital learning tools and digital examinations. As a result of the corona crisis many educational activities are now online. The group is therefore working closely with the Centre for Innovation to ensure the accessibility of online education.

The expert group is looking into, for example, the subtitling of publicly accessible videos, providing alternative texts for visual materials and making the design of the website suitable for assistive technology. They are also developing guidelines for our websites and the programmes used in our education, for example PowerPoint presentations, PDFs and Word documents. These guidelines are intended to support both lecturers and student supervisors. The group is working with the ‘Harmonisation of Educational Logistics’ team on the development of a new student portal. They are also looking into the digitalisation of textbooks, in collaboration with the University Library. 

The group’s basis is the ‘Act on equal treatment on the grounds of disability or chronic illness’. There has been a general standard for accessibility in place since 2017. This means that schools, employers and companies must ensure the accessibility of their services. This standard also applies to the digital facilities of (semi) government agencies, in accordance with the ‘Temporary decree digital accessibility of government’. Institutions can show that they comply with this standard by way of an accessibility statement. 

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