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Digital accessibility at KTH

Digital accessibility means that everybody – regardless of disabilities – can use our digital services and websites. KTH has an Accessibility Report and a Working Group that actively works with the issues.

Icons with different disabilies.

The need for accessibility has always existed, but the requirements have been significantly increased with the Act on Accessibility to Digital Public Service (DOS Act). At KTH, we take digital accessibility seriously and work continuously with information sharing and education to increase awareness and knowledge of the issues. We also have an Accessibility Report (Swe)  which is updated on an annual basis.

Why is digital accessibility important?

  • Accessibility is necessary for some people in order for them to study or work at KTH, for example. About 20 percent of the Swedish population has some kind of disability, such as impaired vision or mobility.
  • Accessibility often contributes to increased usability, and a better experience for everyone.
  • Accessibility means that our digital investments have a greater effect and that we reach more people.

KTH's organisation and activities

In 2020, KTH started a project to work focused on digital accessibility. A steering group and a working group were appointed with the task of further developing digital accessibility at KTH. The working group looks at, among other things, how existing websites can be improved, how new mobile applications can be developed in an accessible way and how the knowledge among KTH's employees can be increased.

Beslut om projektdirektiv om tillgänglighet till digital offentlig service på KTH (pdf 939 kB)

"It should be easy to do the right thing, the guidelines should be clear, and everyone who meets KTH digitally should be able to perceive the content."

/ Jan Gulliksen, Vice President for Digitization at KTH

News about digital accessibility

Digital accessibility: Currently and in the future at KTH

Documentation from Lunch ‘n’ Learn on digital accessibility with Jan Gulliksen and Stefan Johansson, PhD in Human-Computer Interaction. Why digital accessibility is important, what KTH has done so far...

Read the article
Portrait
Stefan says that digital accessibility legislation is only part of accessibility issues.

Ask people: What is most difficult?

"Digital accessibility legislation does a lot for the visually impaired and people with hearing impairments, but lets the much larger group with cognitive problems go under the radar." This is the opi...

Read the article

Q&A – tips and tricks about accessibility

Digital accessibility means that everybody – regardless of disabilities – can use our digital services and websites. Here you get hands-on tips on how to get more people to perceive what you bring abo...

Read the article

Current activities

Teacher at white board with student in front

Accessibility in teaching

The project presents measures to increase awareness and knowledge of digital accessibility with the goal of eventually establishing practice for students' digital educational environment and teacher communication. Some suggested activities:

  • An online course about digital accessibility.
  • Support for teachers, where the activities need to be coordinated within a special project group containing the Platform Steering Group, Studadm and E-learning. A selection of the planned activities are:
    • Compile recommendations on how teachers make teaching and course materials available and how to treat students.
    • Further develop accessibility as an aspect of e-learning and student education materials and templates.
    • Educate Local support in how course materials are made available with the goal that they can support hands-on.

Project members:  Åsa Lindström  and Tecla Malmström

Organisation chart

Web editors' organisation

The project gives a proposal for a clear editorial organisation with responsibility roles that will apply to the entire KTH. Objectives of the project:

  • Develop a structure for support and collaboration between the different levels of editors and webmasters.
  • Define the competence requirements for each role.
  • Develop a proposal for training support for web publishing.
  • Release resources by having fewer people do more.
  • Mutual respect between different employees' functions and competencies.
  • Clearer processes.
  • Clarity with the schools about what is expected of them and what GVS assists with.

Project members:   Sara Öhman , Sara Gunningberg  and Ulrika Georgsson

Person at a laptop coding.

Technical questions

The project members are responsible for KTH's annual Accessibility Report, which is then approved by the steering group for digital accessibility. The work includes:

  • to collect information from various system owners at KTH for the Accessibility Report,
  • to annually revise the Accessibility Report,
  • to introduce remaining shortcomings in the IT department's budget and development planning.
  • At present, KTH's websites and apps mainly have shortcomings on the content side and only a few shortcomings that require technical development.

Project members: Robert Lawesson and Joakim Petersson

Good news sign on a lamp post

Communication

An important part of the work with digital accessibility is about increasing awareness and knowledge. Examples of communication initiatives to be disseminated on intranets and in internal newsletters:

  • Advertising for KTH's document templates, canvas templates and film tools.
  • Articles that inspire and engage.
  • Clear guidelines.
  • Think crowdsourcing, where colleagueas at KTH can share tips and tricks with eachother.
  • Website for external and internal target group around the work.

Project members: Ulrika Georgsson

KTH's Steering Group for Digital Accessibility

The Steering Group decides on the budget distribution, the annual Accessibility Report and the composition of the working group for digital accessibility.

KTH's Working Group for Digital Accessibility

The group is led by Jan Gulliksen, Vice President for Digitization. Jeanette Thörnberg, Project Administrator at the IT department, is the secretary and coordinates the practicalities of the group's meetings.

Project objectives

  • The project will investigate how the 50 accessibility criteria are to be implemented in the operations, on the basis of listed exceptions in the desicion of the program.
  • The project will compile a list of remaining activities, including priority order and schedules.
  • The project will list related laws in the area of ​​accessibility and analyze connections to the new DOS law.
  • The project team will ensure ongoing work on the Accessibility Report and how improvement measures are taken.
  • The project will investigate the need for resources to manage digital accessibility at KTH. This includes both skills needs and IT infrastructure.
  • The project will coordinate ongoing efforts within various groupings at KTH and propose how the work should be organized in a later management phase, including responsibilities.
  • The project will compile an overall accessibility report that includes the points above.
  • The project does not take responsibility for ensuring that all websites / documents / systems within KTH comply with accessibility legislation. The responsibility for law compliance lies upon the respective activities within KTH.
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Page responsible:Ulrika Georgsson
Belongs to: KTH Intranet
Last changed: Feb 14, 2023