Events displayed in timezone: Europe/London
Designing With, Not Around, Disabled Learners: A Screen-Reader Demo Experience
Thu March 5, 2026 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm GMT
This session from Equity Unbound will demonstrate why screen-reader access is important when designing learning materials, especially Open Educational Resources. Have you ever wanted to know how people who are visually impaired or totally blind access your content? Come to this session and I, a visually impaired screen-reader user and an accessibility expert myself, will demonstrate for you the experience of a blind person navigating websites and digital materials.
We will begin with a TRIZ Liberating Structures activity in which participants will intentionally design the worst possible experience for someone using a screen reader. As we name common mistakes and exclusionary practices first, we will surface the barriers that disabled users encounter every day.
Through screen-reader demonstrations on JAWS, NVDA, and Voiceover, participants will experience how everyday design choices shape who can participate fully in learning spaces and who is required to work harder to feel “included” because the design was not made accessible from the beginning. Participants will see concrete examples of inaccessible practices, such as poorly structured documents, missing alt text, cluttered layouts, and excessive emoji use, and how these choices interfere with learning and participation.
The session will connect these examples to the four principles of accessibility: perceivable, operable, user-friendly, and real. We will also discuss reasonable accommodations and why accessibility must be built into course design rather than added later. Throughout the session, participants will be invited to reflect, ask questions, and rethink their own materials. By the end, they will leave with practical strategies for creating learning spaces that are genuinely inclusive for screen reader users.
