Accessible Formats in Focus

Course evaluation summary

Number of Participants: 37
Number of Respondents: 26

Overall Assessment:

What was best about the session?

Making new connections & chatting to people.
Keynote address - Alt formats.
Practical side to looking at various technologies that might be helpful for our service. Awareness around other services working towards the same outcome and how they facilitate that.
Getting to see & try equipment. Meeting other professionals, finding out about new innovations.
Listening to what universities can do. The chance to speak to other people in my field. Seeing the technology that's available.
Eyes reality – interesting to see the possibilities. Knowledge about what Universities do for learners to make things accessible.
Was good to hear what universities are offering. VR – sight simulator very interesting. Hearing about companies that can do adaptions.
Demonstration of technology equipment.
Learning about technology available.
Eyes reality demo, networking opportunities.
Experiencing the equipment – Paige Connect and Eyes Reality.
Networking with people, getting contacts.
Hearing about advances and new solutions.
Meeting others in similar roles and realising I am not alone.
The opportunity to engage & chat with speakers – ample lunchtime which meant not having to eat and talk at the same time.
Bec's presentation, Eyes Reality, braille workshop.
Trying out Eyes Reality, think every council area should invest.
Would like to find out more about Neurocode AI. The VI Simulation headset was good too. Liked fireside chat too.
Networking opportunities, seeing new equipment.
It was great to hear about accessible formats and developments of technology.
Low vision devices.
Lots of very interesting content, I have learnt a lot and made good contacts. Diverse group and wide variety of info. Info has been useful personally and professionally. Session on JAWS specifically – practical examples are best.
Demo of products.
Very good array of speakers and expertise. Some new technology on display.
Hearing about developments in technology, opportunities to network.

What, if anything, do you think should have been included?

Great offer, thank you very much!
Comment re accessibility of all presenters slides- dark text on pale coloured background is statistically more accessible to more people than black text on white or white text on black. :-)
A chance to look at the technologies in a smaller group setting to possibly discuss with others.
Maybe more choice in workshops. Quite a lot geared towards FE/HE – more input/workshops focussed on school level would be great.
More school-based accessible formats.
Accessible formats aimed at education – primary and secondary.
Aspheric handheld magnifiers would have been good to see as a non-expensive technology for low vision.
Time for more hands-on experience of technology.
Some of the content was heavily focussed on FE and HE – more links to Primary / Secondary would be useful.
I was disappointed that the focus for most of the day was aimed at university level education settings. While it was interesting to hear about this it was not how the course was described and, ultimately, not particularly relevant to my post. More focus on accessible formats for primary and secondary education settings.
More networking opportunity.
Hearing from some students about their experience of Alt formats.
Not all the sessions had practical demo (when talking about practical products).
More workshops – to try equipment/ software.
More time to try out tech.
A wider display of low vision aids. Less android based tech. A Top-tips or 'Did you know' - short session or handout to takeaway.
Option to attend braille and low vision device workshop. Link to Primary/Secondary education Electronic way of filling out feedback form (alternative formats) Larger print name-badges. Maybe breakout rooms for discussion. Low vision workshop could have been longer.
More specific education/school level input.
The Vision Sim tech could have had more time for overview/use. There was a lot of focus on FE/HE and there could have been more balance across education. Various softwares mentioned, eg Abbyy reader and Claro, we might have benefitted from seeing these in action.

How did you hear about this event?

SSC Direct Email: 13
Line manager: 4
SSC eBulletin: 3
SSC Website: 3
Colleague: 2
Sight & Sound website: 1

What other CPD training would you like the SSC to provide?

Links to use and approach to AI tech.
A day to share practice – using technologies or to discuss/share technologies/practice with others.
Screen reader; Assessment – how to choose the most appropriate tech for individual situations.
Support for working with complex learners.
Complex needs and VI ideas for the classroom and assessment.
Further hands-on training on technology.
Bring together any VI helpers, supporters at HE & FE to discuss transitions.
Twice a year conferences, this is brilliant.
At this high level of expertise – organise a regular meetup. Get a speaker/demo, then just chat/network. Stress the point at this higher level. There are options for beginner level meets.
Keeping up-to-date with technology and AI
Keep offering opportunities to view new tech and network.
Specific sessions on little or no vision that is not just braille.
More specific education/school level input.
Course specifically on how to make documents, resources, materials accessible.