Guidelines, Accessibility concerns, references on accessibility and best practices
- Reading material for homework's should avoid scanned images of text. These can be difficult to read and cannot be read by screen readers.
Examples of readings that have not been text accessible:
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https://github.com/0ld-h3ad/DarkMatters-Spring2019/blob/master/SiliconValley_2_EarlyHistory.pdf
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Dropbox Paper and screen readers / Question. Course material, homeworks and notes make heavy use of Dropbox Paper. I'm unsure if this has been resolved but there have been complaints of Dropbox Paper not working with well with screen readers (https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Paper-Ideas/Please-make-Dropbox-Paper-screen-reader-accessible/idi-p/185653/page/4#comments).
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Sharing physical spaces virtually. Provide a small tour of the SFCP space. It’s a nice way to feel more connected to the course and share some of the experiences of the other students.
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Setup your own office hours for other students. It provides a nice chance to meet other people and talk about the work. Part of the learning of Sfcp is learning from others.
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Organise initial 1-1s with all the TAs (in the first week if possible). It helps to know the people to ask for help and you can provide a little bit about your experience and how you want to participate in the classes.
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Remote discussions - Always having a key person for every class that you can message about joining group discussions. This can be hard if you have timezones and constraints but it’s really nice to participate in some discussions that are part of the courses.
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Retreat - Students go on retreat, While you can watch along its nice to move into a new space or somewhere you feel comfortable but thats a bit different.
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Meet the students - prepare a pre-recored video so you can participate.
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Being aware of the feeling of being behind. If you are following along remotely its often the case you are behind other class mates, which in turn can make it feel quite pressured in catching up while still trying to make sure you get your homework done. This needs more thought
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Post homework in the relevant Slack channel so other students, TA, teachers can see your work and give feedback.
The showcase is one of the harder aspects of being remote. Doing an installation completely remotely limits how complex your installation can be and relies a lot on the help of others. Its natural this is going to be frustating. My personal advice would be to take this and try and express it and make it a part of your work.
Some tips:
- Find a TA who is willing to be your proxy for the showcase setup.
- Ensure as quickly as possible that you have remote access to your installation. VNC or something similar means you can transfer code, projects and anything else onto the machine.
- Setup a webcam giving a live stream of your exhibition. This enables to monitor your piece and check that everything is working as expected.
- There is a lot of value in the conversations you will have with people viewing your work. I used a tablet with a live chat running as part of my piece. This allowed me to talk about my walk and see people interact with it.
- WebAIM (web accessiblity in mind). https://webaim.org/projects/
- https://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey7/ (Screenreader usage survey)