The Library
The main Library on the centre of campus has several services on offer to help with accessibility, including assistive technology, alternative formats, adjustable furniture, specialist equipment hire and more. The full range is on their website.
Another Library service that may be of interest is their accessible study rooms, which can be booked by students registered with the University Disability Services. Some of the rooms are sensory study rooms, with different lighting and seating options as well as various accessibility tools installed on the computers in those rooms. For more information, including how to book the rooms, check out the accessible study rooms page of the Library websiteLink opens in a new window. Bookings can be made from the accessible study rooms page or from the Library’s room booking portalLink opens in a new window.
The Library also has an assistive technology areaLink opens in a new window, located on floor 1. Where possible a height adjustable table is available and includes a computer with a 24-inch double monitor. The computers are loaded with a variety of Assistive software including:
- Audio NoteTaker
- ClaroRead
- Essay Writer
- Inspiration
- JAWS
- Kurzweil 1000
- MindManager
- Read &Write
- Zoomtext
The Library also has a designated member of staff to help you use the assistive technology on offer, both in the assistive technology area and in the accessible study rooms.
The Library also can help with collecting books for you. There is a Click and Collect serviceLink opens in a new window where you can order book from Library Search and then pick them up from the Click and Collect collection point on Floor 1 at the main Library when they are ready. Collection may take up to 48 hours but the collection point is open 24 hours a day. There is also a Get it For Me serviceLink opens in a new window, which includes postal loans and scans of books for students who cannot come to campus.
Moodle accessibility
The main source of online resources for any modules in the Maths department is Moodle.
Moodle has an accessibility toolbar, which allows students to change the font size, apply a dyslexic-friendly font or change the site colour. Click this icon in the top right corner of the page to access the accessibility options:
This opens a menu where the font can be switched between the default font and the dyslexic-friendly font, and where the accessibility toolbar can be enabled or disabled. When enabled, the accessibility toolbar looks like this:
Moodle also has a built-in night mode, which can be turned on and off using the following switch, found next to the accessibility options button:
All lectures for any Maths modules should be recorded with both audio and video via lecture capture. Lecture capture recordings can be accessed from the module Moodle page. The right-hand side of the page will have a sidebar open with the following icon, which opens Echo360 to access lecture capture recordings:
If the sidebar is not showing, you need to click the purple arrow icon on the right-hand side of the page to expand it.
Once on Echo360, the available lecture capture recordings will be listed. When you click on a lecture, the right-hand side of the page will have a sidebar open, and clicking the following button will show the automated transcript:
The transcript should follow along with the video, and it is also downloadable as a text file. Unfortunately, the automated transcripts can be of varying quality, due to the system struggling with the technical language used in Maths, but they can still be useful to aid with following along with the audio.
Don’t forget that Disability Services will fund notetakers for students who cannot take notes in lectures, and this is separate to DSA. You can access this by contacting a disability advisor directly – it's worth noting that Disability Services are happy to employ fellow students for this role, as they can often struggle to find specialist notetakers for subjects such as Maths.
Echo360 is also compatible with the Google Chrome extension Video TransformerLink opens in a new window, which allows you to set keyboard shortcuts for zooming in and out on videos. This can be particularly useful to better see what has been written on the blackboard when you are watching a lecture back.