Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Why does web accessibility matter?
Version 1.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) launched on May 6, 1999. Recently AbilityNet reviewed them and what remains to be done.


The Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) Accessibility Maturity Model, created by AbilityNet and McNaught Consultancy, enables you to judge the maturity of your organisation's digital accessibility. He also recently produced a 4 part blog on how to get the maturity to evolve and develop at an organisation.


Some systems have built in tools you can use

Google Features
Microsoft


Useful websites for free training guides and webinars

JISC accessibility and inclusion guide  for post secondary education

Daisy Consortium guide to inclusive publishing

Daisy Consortium videos via youtube


AbilityNet webinars
How to promote digital accessibility great advice from University of Derby - is a good one

Freedom of speech on campus May 2021- useful links and comments

government’s Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will be introduced in parliaent this week

Introduction in the Queen's speech 2021

UK government

Bill

UK government policy paper feb 2021

House of commons library briefing march 2021

Equality and Human Rights commission guidance

Wonkhe analysis proposals 16/02

Free Speech and Censorship on Campus Corey Stoughton-  HEPI paper 2019

Conversation  blog - discuss 

Independent coverage

Times higher coverage

UCU response to Queens speech

Russell Group response.    Previous statement on free speech April 2021

UUK

World Press Freedom Day - 3rd May 2021 - free resources

Each year World Press Freedom day is celebrated on 3rd May by the United Nations
the official website provides free access to related UN resolutions
These include those relating to safety of journalists and freedom of expression

Where are journalists most at risk?
Consult the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists information on the 1450 killed since 1993

Where is the press most free?
Look at the RSF press freedom ranking for 2021
Find out why Norway is at number 1!
at number 180 is Eritrea
archives are available from 2014 onwards.
Freedom House publishes regular media freedom and freedom on the net report with rankings.

What has been the effect of the pandemic on freedom?

According to International Press Institute  COVID-19 Press Freedom Tracker, nearly 200 violations linked to the pandemic were reported from the Asia-Pacific region, of which 107 were from four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal. As many as 71 journalists faced arrests and charges for their coverage of the pandemic and its consequences, and 32 cases of physical attacks and verbal threats were reported from these countries.

The RSF index has regular updates each year
See this discussion from the European Parliament

and this paper from the European Parliament think tank

Article 19 briefing

Negative impact on Africa - relief web articles

Council of Europe reports 

Few winners, many losers: the COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic and unequal impact on independent news media- Reuters 

Shakespeare day 23rd April- some great free resources

23rd April is celebrated as Shakespeare day
so here are some great free resources for researchers and students


Shakespeare Documented wonderful resource from the Folger Shakespeare library bringing together hundreds manuscript and print references to Shakespeare, his works, and additional references to his family, in his lifetime and later includes imges of legal documents, reviews and some first editions


The Internet Shakespeare Editions publishes high quality materials on:Shakespeare's works His plays, life and times.

It includes texts of plays and poens, details on his career and reviews of film performances

A digital facsimile of the Bodleian First Folio

The British Library Quartos
site contains 107 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare printed in quarto before the 1642 theatre closures. You will find background information and details of performance, but the site excels in allowing you to compare different quartos side-by-side using high quality page images.

Discovering literature Shakespeare and Renaissance
marvellous British library study resource containing essays and other materials which set the plays in context

The report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities and reaction

 

The report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Reaction NHS Providers - we disagree with the report

Runnymede Trust response

Institute of Race Relations

Black Lives Matter 

Hope not Hate

TUC reaction

International day of happiness- recommended academic resources

For International Day of Happiness


The World Happiness Report
The World Happiness Report is a urvey of the state of global happiness that ranks over 150
countries by how happy their citizens feel themselves to be. Read reports and download the data on the website. the blog discusses the impact of covid


Oecd also has a Better life index which examines objective and subjective feelings of happiness


What about the impact of Covid?

In July 2020 Imperial College released this report from the Covid 19 Behaviour Tracker
See the main website for regular updates of data on all forms of behaviour and responses. Methodology is supplied.

In terms of the UK the ONS is conducting regular personal wellbeing surveys.It also considers levels of anxiety.

The annual report covering up to March 2020 there was already significant worsening.

For a useful listing of UK surveys containing questions relating to the impact of Covid. See this handy guide from the UK Data Archive.Many of these are related to issues of wellbeing

Pancake day - historic recipes

This week was Shrove Tuesday so here are some great resources

Find out how to make a Sussex pancake using this recipe published in 1675! from the LSE Digital Library

The Wellcome Library has a great collection of historic recipe books. This example has how to cook a pancake next to how to source a capon in jelly!

BFI Player has on its free section the rather less exotic Findus crispy pancake adverts from the 1980s!

Alternatively try this Pancake song from the Full English Site from Vaughan Williams Memorial Library The Tippitoe pancake song was collected in 1908 is a fabulous bit of folk culture You can view more Shrove Tuesday resources there.