Digital Accessibility Roadmap
Our accessibility roadmap shows that we are committed to meeting accessibility standard at Boston College
Due Date (all components): March 2024
Target Date | 16/12/2022 - COMPLETED
To Complete | Marketing
Activity | Accessibility statement written and published on website (Public facing).
Explanation/Planning | A statement to be produced for the website to indicate to users of accessibility guidance and declaration
• Marketing to produce the statement with guidance from Jisc
• Marketing to publish the statement on college website
Target Date | 03/01/2023 - COMPLETED
To Complete | Digital, Quality
Activity | Staff Training on the check accessibility within Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.
Explanation/Planning | All staff to complete training on Microsoft accessibility checking tools.
• Training event to be planned and delivered by digital team
• Share training and handouts
Target Date | 01/02/2023
To Complete | Marketing, Digital
Activity | A review of publish videos online to include, subtitles/ captions, transcripts, audio description and meet accessibility regulations (includes content on or after 23 September 2020).
Explanation/Planning | Videos that are online should be put through a website to allow for close captions and subtitles to be present Video captioning and accessibility regulations | Jisc
• Transfer regular used videos to online platforms
• Academic staff to review videos used and if accessibility consideration have been followed
Target Date | 01/05/2023
To Complete | Digital
Activity | Introduction of a staff development online area with access to free courses, links to resources and self-assessments on digital accessibility.
Explanation/Planning | Staff area to be created for ongoing awareness and for new staff. All resources to be collated and shared with any relevant media to support.
• Creation of a SharePoint page to assist with training and development of all staff
• Resources to be included as part of new staff members induction process
Target Date | 01/05/2023
To Complete | Digital, IT, Academic staff
Activity | Virtual learning environment guidelines for accessibility and content creation. ‘How to guides’.
Explanation/Planning | Review of VLE used at college and provide training for academic staff to utilise the correct tools to support students Closed Captions and Transcription | Accessibility | Microsoft Teams
Target Date | 01/08/2023
To Complete | IT, Library
Activity | Library resources to include links to the resource’s accessibility statement.
Explanation/Planning | On the systems that the college uses to make clear the accessibility statement for third party resource pages. These to be listed on library internal page.
• Collect the statements and create an area to house them online
Target Date | 01/08/2023
To Complete | Administrators, Support Staff, Marketing, Digital
Activity | Review of college templates. Creation of accessible branded Word and PowerPoint templates for staff to use.
Explanation/Planning | Any central templates to be reviewed and checked with accessibility tools. New branded templates to replace current documents and to be implemented to ensure consistency.
• Guidance on accessibility checks to be distributed
• Organisational templates to be updated and shared on staff area and removal of non-compliant documents
Target Date | 01/08/2023
To Complete | Digital, Support Staff
Activity | Third party content and systems. Accessibility statement to highlight any third-party system and their current accessibility information.
Explanation/Planning | College systems to be reviewed and check any possible accessibility constraints. Identify any providers accessibility statements Should test internally.
• Collect all third-party accessibility statements and have them on show for students and staff
• Review yearly to update any changes or new additions
Target Date | 01/09/2023
To Complete | Management, Finance
Activity | Request that your procurement process embeds a need for accessibility statements and accessible content in procurement guidance. Sometimes suppliers will provide you with a voluntary product accessibility template (VPAT)3. This is worded differently to UK accessibility statements but should provide the detail required.
Explanation/Planning | Finance to review the current procurement system to include a question around accessibility. A focus on online and digital orders. This to contribute to the choice of supplier and be requested for them to share current standing.
Target Date | 01/12/2023
To Complete | Administrators, Support Staff, Marketing, Digital
Activity | Documents – Review of accessibility of documents. This to include policy, procedure, organisation documentation, minutes, and information.
Explanation/Planning | An across college review of templates, forms and online paperwork to demonstrate they meet required accessibility guidelines.
• All outward facing documents to be updated and checked. Any relevant templates to be updated to meet requirements
• Internal documentation used by staff and students to be reviewed to check compliance
Target Date | 01/12/2023
To Complete | Quality, Marketing, Digital
Activity | A review of images used externally and as part of teaching and learning. Label images if required for information or highlight if only decorative.
Explanation/Planning | Marketing pictures to ensure all images are labelled to allow screen readers to read our description of visual.
Target Date | 01/12/2023
To Complete | Digital, Marketing, IT
Activity | Testing - Create an accessibility audit, skills checker for staff and provide resources to support.
Explanation/Planning | Baseline audit of website to be completed. This to be planned to monitor as an ongoing basis to check for any possible accessibility issues with new content.
• Planned audits to be introduced, scheduled, and carried out
• Any issues to be rectified and training given if required
• External auditor to include accessibility
Target Date | 01/03/2024
To Complete | Management
Activity | Identify any fixes that will be cost-prohibitive remediation and produce a case for disproportionate burden.
Explanation/Planning | A review of external documentation and resources that fall out of the compliance. Management to discuss if any information that is costly to put right. If deemed the resources required to put right is costly to complete a report that includes evidence, cost projections and reasons for decision.
• Management team to review and discuss any possible documentation that does not meet the compliance
• Reports to be produced to give a case of disproportionate burden
Target Date | 01/03/2024
To Complete | Marketing
Activity | Renewal of college external website. Review of needs and accessibility requirements as part of selection.
Explanation/Planning | Review of current website in January and August before new academic year
• The initial review of new providers to start in 2023
• Renewal to be confirmed for the start of 2024 with new provider