Tools for inclusion
It is vital to our Business School community that everyone understands the core principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion; and that we continually build on our skills and knowledge as individuals. EDI is an ever-changing landscape, and there are frequent personal and professional development opportunities offered so that our community can stay up-to-date in these areas. Here are some resources to help. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please contact
Accessible teaching top tips
- We should provide all teaching material on ELE ideally 48 hours in advance as it can be very time-consuming for students to convert material into accessible formats especially Braille. Staff and students can convert existing files into more accessible formats using the University’s subscription to SensusAccess. This is resource enables a wide variety of file formats, including docx, pdf, ppt, html and jpeg, to be converted into more accessible formats such as txt, mp3 and braille. This resource can be found by clicking here.
- Where possible, try to recommend reading from sources that the University holds in both electronic and hard copy as students have differing preferences.
- A student with a visual impairment is likely to require much larger text than would normally be produced, possibly up to font size 48. Individuals who can’t see text at font size 48 will be braille or screen reader users. If a set text or essential reading is not available electronically try to provide the reading list well in advance of the start of the module because the student, library or disability services, will need to either negotiate with the publishers to obtain an electronic version or get the text translated into an accessible format.
- Where possible, try to provide teaching material to students in a format that they can edit to suit their own preferences, as students have differing preferences. For example, partially sighted students tend to prefer there to be a high contrast between background colours and text colour, while dyslexic students are likely to prefer a low contrast.
- Dyslexic students and those with visual impairments tend to prefer similar fonts, and although all individuals have their own preferences, sans serif fonts such as Ariel, Calibri or Verdana are amongst the easiest for most people to see. Very elaborate, or highly stylised, fonts can be very difficult to read.
- Words are easier to read if they are well spaced from each other so use line spacing of 1.5 and above.
- Dyslexic students have a tendency to identify a word by its shape, so avoid using all capitals or small caps.
- It is much easier for a student to find their place in the text of a document or presentation if the font is left aligned, as they will be able to see the ‘shape’ of the text. Justified text is much harder to keep ones place when reading because the block of text has no ‘shape’ and the size of the spaces between words varies, as can be seen in the example below.
- If you want a word or title to stand out, it is better to increase the fond size and/or use bold rather than underlining or italicising words because these change the shape of the word.
- The design and aesthetics of teaching material can affect students’ ability to comprehend and absorb information in a number of ways. Find a link here to the British Dyslexia Association’s style guidelines.
- Allow students with impairments to sit where they choose in class; don’t insist that everyone sits at the front of a lecture theatre. Wheelchair users and students with other mobility impairments may find it impossible or difficult to use stairs, while individuals who use crutches, or other mobility aids, may find stairs easier than using ramps.
- Try to ensure that there are on obstacles in the route between the door and the seating area as student with sight impairments may not see them and trip.
