Alistair McNaught is now talking about inclusive practice. Why is inclusivity important? Well look at the numbers 35,000 numbers identify themselves as having a specific learning difficulty.
Barriers are everywhere but they can be overcome.
Alistair uses a fantastic exercise to demonstrate how different people like different methods of communication. We all closed our eyes, assuming the experience of the visually impaired participant, and raised our hands when an option we liked was offered. There was a real mixture of preference. The key is we can’t assume what people like or need.
My perceptions have been changed. Text is the least popular method of communication for deaf students. Uh oh, hang on. That’s pretty much our primary method of communication. Listen + read = write. That’s how we study. Or at least that’s how we are forced to study.
Inclusion is the oxygen of digital capability.
Alistair says that we should manage our expectation on the inclusivity of resources of our staff based on differing levels of people’s skills. A novice might use heading styles in text whereas an expert will do that and release it in multiple formats. We can’t assume that everyone knows how to do everything. It’s no good handing over the guidelines that state what people should do to be inclusive we should support them with the skills to be inclusive.