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Teaching Accessibility - How is digital accessibility taught and learned?

A collage that merges circuit board patterns with textile motifs in a grid-like background of alternating black, grey, and white. Two hand-drawn arms are on each side of the image, positioned as if gently pulling on thin, white strings that cross the image diagonally. The hands appear soft and somewhat translucent, contrasting with the rigid lines of the circuit board patterns behind them. The strings are woven through both the hands and the background, symbolising the connection between traditional weaving and modern technology. The overall colour palette features muted earth tones, including browns, beiges, and grays, creating a sense of both history and continuity between the natural and technological worlds..
Hanna Barakat & Archival Images of AI + AIxDESIGN / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Overview

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(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 ɫƵ.

Recent Policy Publications

AI and Accessibility Skills Workshop Insights

In partnership with Jisc, the ɫƵ 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

ɫƵ's Response to the Digital Inclusion Action Plan

“AI in Education”: Evidence submission to Education Committee from the ɫƵ Education School.

Recent Video Outputs

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

Accessibility and the AI shift

Henny Swan, Director, TetraLogical

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

The Teaching Accessibility Team

Dr Sarah Lewthwaite(Principal Investigator), Principal Research Fellow and Future Leaders Fellow at the Centre for Research in Inclusion, ɫƵ Education School, ɫƵ

Dr Andy Coverdale, Research Fellow in the Centre for Research in Inclusion,ɫƵ Education School, ɫƵ

Previous team members include Geane Fontinele (2023-2024),Sarah Horton(2020-2022, Visiting Fellow, 2022-2024) and Angharad Butler-Rees (2019-2020).

Project Updates

Please visit the for the latest information.

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