The Integration of Web Accessibility Courses in ICT Programmes (IWAC) project establishes a unique partnership between higher education institutions and the private sector, with the overarching goal of mainstreaming accessibility skills in higher education curricula for ICT disciplines. A major driving force behind the project is the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102) that was recently implemented in national legislations across the EU. The Directive imposes accessibility requirements on all public sector websites and apps. This increases demand for ICT professionals who have accessibility skills. Another driver of demand is the growing insight among view that accessible websites are better for everyone. Yet there is not yet a corresponding supply of skilled professionals. Web accessibility is usually not included in ICT programme curricula in higher education. As a result, many entry-level ICT professionals are unfamiliar with web accessibility. There is therefore a gap between demand and supply that must be closed. In pursuit of the vision of mainstreaming accessibility skills, the project has four overall aims. First, to spread best practice examples of how web accessibility can be integrated into higher education ICT curricula. Second, to give higher education institutions the support they need to integrate web accessibility into their ICT curricula. Third, to develop training material that will help students apply web accessibility skills in professional contexts. Finally, fourth, to create cross-sector collaborations for the dissemination of the project results. The project will encompass the following activities: - Gather best practice examples of web accessibility courses in higher education. This will be done through the use of surveys and expert interviews. - Assemble a handbook for developing content for web accessibility courses. This will rely on an extensive literature review, as well as the pre-existing knowledge of the project partners. - Develop case-based training material and MOOCs suitable for different ICT professional target groups. This will be based on the project’s previous outputs. - Localise and test training material and MOOCS. The testing will be carried out in pilot sessions at the partner universities. At least 20 students at each partner university will complete pilot trainings on the basis of the case-based material. - Draft and disseminate recommendations for how to integrate web accessibility courses into higher education ICT programmes. All outputs will be refined at multiplier events with relevant stakeholders. One such event will be held in each participating country. There will also be a larger multiplier event held at the end of the project, in conjunction with the Funka Accessibility Days conference in 2021. At least 50 representatives from universities outside the partnership will take part in project events. These representatives will also have the opportunity to examine the project results and contribute to their final drafts. The outputs of this project will be of great help to other higher education institutions to be able to respond to the increased demand for ICT graduates skilled in web accessibility. Notably, the case-based training developed in the project is an innovative as well as efficient way to ensure that the education is relevant to the needs of the future employers of the ICT students. The results of the project will be disseminated in a variety of ways. The outputs will be publicly available and promoted both through the universities and also by the Nordic chapter of the branch organisation International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP Nordic), as a partner in the consortium. Multiplier events will be held in all participating countries. These events will bring in actors from outside the partnership, which will in turn help spread the results to a wider audience. The ambition is that the project will serve as a point of reference for higher education course development on web accessibility in the coming years.
The aim of the proposed Erasmus + strategic partnership was to improve the quality and the relevance of ICT education programmes by promoting the integration of web accessibility as an integral part of the curricula. Another important overarching aim of the project was to stimulate an interest and motivation among both students and teachers to continue to explore the subject of web accessibility. The concrete objectives were to: - Collect and share best practices in the design and implementation of web accessibility courses as part of higher education ICT curricula - Enhance the universities’ ability to integrate web accessibility courses in ICT curricula through the development of hands-on resources and recommendations - Prepare students for practicing web accessibility skills in a professional environment by developing and testing innovative training material - Collaborate across sectors to disseminate project results and engage universities and other stakeholders beyond the partnership
Following the implementation of the new European Web Accessibility Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2102), several hundred thousand public websites, documents and apps in the EU need to comply with the European standard of accessibility. Moreover, there is an increasing understanding among IT suppliers that accessible websites result in better user experience for all users. There is therefore a strong and growing demand for web professionals that are skilled in web accessibility. However, studies conducted in cooperation with the branch organisation for accessibility (IAAP) prior to the project show that in most European universities web accessibility is not part of the general ICT programmes. As a result, there is a risk that students miss out on key competences that are sought-after by future employers. The main need that the project addressed is that more teachers in higher education must be able to create and hold courses in web accessibility, so that the students have the opportunity to learn these key skills that are sought after by employers. This in turn will ensure that higher education institutes can meet the emerging needs in society and on the market in this field.
The Integration of Web Accessibility Courses in ICT Programmes (IWAC) project establishes a unique partnership between higher education institutions and the private sector, with the overarching goal of mainstreaming accessibility skills in higher education curricula for ICT disciplines. A major driving force behind the project is the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102) that was recently implemented in national legislations across the EU. The Directive imposes accessibility requirements on all public sector websites and apps. This increases demand for ICT professionals who have accessibility skills. Another driver of demand is the growing insight among view that accessible websites are better for everyone. Yet there is not yet a corresponding supply of skilled professionals. Web accessibility is usually not included in ICT programme curricula in higher education. As a result, many entry-level ICT professionals are unfamiliar with web accessibility. There is therefore a gap between demand and supply that must be closed. In pursuit of the vision of mainstreaming accessibility skills, the project has four overall aims. First, to spread best practice examples of how web accessibility can be integrated into higher education ICT curricula. Second, to give higher education institutions the support they need to integrate web accessibility into their ICT curricula. Third, to develop training material that will help students apply web accessibility skills in professional contexts. Finally, fourth, to create cross-sector collaborations for the dissemination of the project results. The project will encompass the following activities: - Gather best practice examples of web accessibility courses in higher education. This will be done through the use of surveys and expert interviews. - Assemble a handbook for developing content for web accessibility courses. This will rely on an extensive literature review, as well as the pre-existing knowledge of the project partners. - Develop case-based training material and MOOCs suitable for different ICT professional target groups. This will be based on the project’s previous outputs. - Localise and test training material and MOOCS. The testing will be carried out in pilot sessions at the partner universities. At least 20 students at each partner university will complete pilot trainings on the basis of the case-based material. - Draft and disseminate recommendations for how to integrate web accessibility courses into higher education ICT programmes. All outputs will be refined at multiplier events with relevant stakeholders. One such event will be held in each participating country. There will also be a larger multiplier event held at the end of the project, in conjunction with the Funka Accessibility Days conference in 2021. At least 50 representatives from universities outside the partnership will take part in project events. These representatives will also have the opportunity to examine the project results and contribute to their final drafts. The outputs of this project will be of great help to other higher education institutions to be able to respond to the increased demand for ICT graduates skilled in web accessibility. Notably, the case-based training developed in the project is an innovative as well as efficient way to ensure that the education is relevant to the needs of the future employers of the ICT students. The results of the project will be disseminated in a variety of ways. The outputs will be publicly available and promoted both through the universities and also by the Nordic chapter of the branch organisation International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP Nordic), as a partner in the consortium. Multiplier events will be held in all participating countries. These events will bring in actors from outside the partnership, which will in turn help spread the results to a wider audience. The ambition is that the project will serve as a point of reference for higher education course development on web accessibility in the coming years.