Teachernet, Accessible Resources Pilot

Accessible Resources Pilot Project

Consortium appointed to develop accessible curriculum materials for visually impaired and dyslexic pupils
Read more here.

Background and rationale
This pilot project comes in response to the RNIB campaign 'Right to Read'. That campaign seeks to ensure that 'blind and partially sighted people are able to read the same books at the same time and at the same price as sighted people.' In 2003, the Right to Read Charter was launched stating that:

every day three million children and adults are denied the Right to Read just because they have a sight problem: dyslexia or a reading disability
ninety-five per cent of all books, magazines and other publications never become available in large print, audio or Braille.

The RNIB's campaign report, 'Where's My Book?' demonstrated that the current system for providing accessible versions of textbooks to blind and partially-sighted school pupils is not working. Delays often occur in the provision of accessible material and children's educational and social progress suffers as a result.

Evidence suggests that the provision of written materials in alternative formats can be an inefficient and expensive use of a school's staff time and financial resources. Where written materials are not provided in a timely and efficient way it can have a negative impact on the educational progress of print disabled students.

The DCSF believes that the solution to this problem lies in ensuring that curriculum materials are available in electronic form to enable efficient production of formats that are accessible to all learners with print disabilities. The Department undertook a competitive tendering exercise in September 2008, inviting organisations to put bids together to test the following formats:

Produce files in appropriate formats for trials by selected schools and local authority producers: Bidders needed to identify the format, subjects and age range they intended to use. They were also required to explain how they intended to prepare/obtain a set of published curriculum materials in their chosen range of subjects in the appropriate file format(s). The successful bidder would then be required to evaluate the effectiveness of the process they had chosen to produce these files and to make recommendations as to how the process can be rolled out on a wider scale
Trial the use of alternative formats in schools and local authorities: The successful bidder needed to identify appropriate schools to participate in the pilot project and supply them with the appropriate technology to access these materials. This required bidders to plan for and provide appropriate and a timely training and support to pupils, teaching and support staff (at others where appropriate).
Produce best practice recommendations about using alternative file formats and appropriate end user tools: The successful bidder needed to explain how: they proposed to produce best practice recommendations for the production and delivery of neutral format files for use by schools and local authorities; and how the material produced should be used by schools and local authorities.
An evaluation of the effectiveness of the tools and approaches used in the pilot project and set out plans for long-term sustainability: Bidders were also required to ensure that the effectiveness of the alternative formats and tools used is evaluated and bids needed to set out how this was to be done. The evaluation needed to be set out in terms of value to all pupils (not just those pupils with a visual impairment or dyslexia), teachers and producers of accessible format outputs. The evaluation also needed to identify sustainable practices and suggest how the projects should be disseminated.

The DCSF has signed a contract agreement with the successful consortium following the open tendering process. A further announcement about the project will be made in due course.

The legal context
Under Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as subsequently amended), local authorities and schools are required not to discriminate against disabled students in their access to education for reasons relating to their disability; and to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled students are not put at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to those who are not disabled. For schools this does not include: the provision of auxiliary aids or services, these are provided under the SEN framework; or making changes to physical features of the building. These are covered by the planning duties.

Instead schools must plan strategically to increase access to the school premises and to the curriculum over time and providing written material in alternative formats to ensure accessibility. Schools are required to set out what actions they will take to ensure that this happens in an accessibility plan.

Note: this page is under review and will be updated over the next couple of months.

Last updated: 15 July 2009