DigAcc25: A Day of Digital Accessibility at King’s

Introduction

DigAcc25 is a digital accessibility conference that brings together professionals from across the UK Higher Education sector. Since its launch in 2023, the University of Nottingham has hosted DigAcc annually. This year’s event took a distributed approach where institutions were encouraged to host local events.

We joined in the fun at King’s College London and I organised a local event where we could watch the conference together. On 25 June 2025, around 30 colleagues from across King’s (including teams from Digital Education, IT, and EDI) came together at Waterloo campus for a day dedicated to digital accessibility. Colleagues may or may not have been influenced by the promise of pastries and lunch…! Thank you to Brickfield Education Labs for supplying some freebies for the day, including digital accessibility cubes (pictured later). Each side featured a handy reminder for tips on improving accessibility.

A classroom setting with several people seated and facing a large screen at the front of the room. The screen displays a presentation titled "Digital Accessibility 2025" with an image of people walking on a street. The attendees are sitting in rows of chairs. — A classroom of people attending Digital Accessibility 2025 in person.

Why bring DigAcc25 to King’s?

Whilst King’s doesn’t yet have a dedicated digital accessibility team, there are many colleagues and teams doing great work in their own areas. What’s currently missing is a space to bring those efforts together, which what I hoped DigAcc25 would help kickstart.

In my role as a faculty Technology Enhanced Learning Manager, I have been advocating for digital accessibility in my faculty. This includes raising awareness through empathy–focused activities, delivering training for both academic and professional services staff, and carrying out audits on our virtual learning environment (VLE). When undertaking accessibility work, it is not unusual to feel isolated without a wider network to exchange ideas or seek advice. Hosting a local DigAcc25 event was a way to bring people together, start conversations, and hopefully bring about changes!

A pyramid of six cube-shaped boxes, each labelled with a category of digital accessibility tips: "Media Tips," "Layout Tips," "Text Tips," "Image Tips," "Table Tips," and "Link Tips." Each box lists three practical tips related to its category. A red "King's College London" staff lanyard is visible at the bottom of the image. — Digital accessibility cubes provided by Brickfield.

Lunchtime networking

Although we were working within the structure of the DigAcc programme, I made space for a King’s-only lunchtime session by shortening the scheduled 1 hour 40 minute lunch break. Potentially a risky move, but one that I think paid off! With nourishment provided by King’s Food, colleagues remained fuelled up!

The lunchtime session featured five quick-fire presentations and gave a flavour of what colleagues across King’s are working on:

I kicked things off with a quick overview of the work the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team has been doing in The Dickson Poon School of Law, and posed a question to the room about the European Accessibility Act, which came into force on 28 June 2025.

Fiona Strawbridge (Director of Digital Education) set the scene on where digital accessibility currently stands at King’s and encouraged everyone to share ideas from the day.

Alistair McWiggan (Curriculum and Digital Innovation) gave a demo of the work he’s doing to create accessible courses and resources on the distance learning programmes and mobile-responsiveness for the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN).

Jemma Adams (EDI Manager – Disability Inclusion) introduced everyone to the work their team does, and reminded us that digital accessibility is just as important for staff as it is for students.

Dan O’Meara (Digital Education Manager) shared insights from a recent VLE audit for the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences (NMES) and walked us through the results.

A classroom with attendees seated at desks, facing the presenter, Dan, at the front. The presenter is pointing at a large screen displaying a presentation slide. — People attending a presentation on an audit of the VLE for a faculty.

Highlights

For me, the highlight of the day was sharing a space with colleagues where digital accessibility was at the heart of the agenda. It was refreshing to be surrounded by colleagues who care about making our digital spaces at King’s more inclusive.

Talks that stood out to me included sessions on how to bring accessibility into procurement processes and how other institutions have involved neurodivergent and disabled students in their VLE testing. I also appreciated talks on how emotional connection can help people understand why digital accessibility matters, and hearing how other institutions have approached accessibility audits. These latter areas are things we’ve been working on in my faculty, so it was encouraging to know we’re on the right track.

I gathered feedback after our local event to hear what people’s highlights were. A majority of those who responded said they valued the chance to connect with others working on similar accessibility challenges. One colleague shared:

“It was great to connect with peers and think through different approaches and ways to tackle what can sometimes seem like an insurmountable challenge. And the recognition that we are all working on this, together, is very heartening.”

Others highlighted the value of the lunchtime event and the chance to hear from and network with King’s colleagues:

“I enjoyed the lunchtime talks the most, as it was wonderful to hear what my colleagues at King’s were doing to improve the accessibility of our online resources and workplace!”
“Definitely the networking element and the lunch talks … it was so great to get a better idea of the people engaged in digital accessibility in King’s and what this looks like in this context.”

A classroom with people seated at desks facing a large screen at the front. The screen displays a presentation slide titled "Accessibility in Procurement" with the subtitle "An Introduction to Accessibility in Procurement" and the presenter's name. — A classroom with people attending the Accessibility in Procurement presentation.

What’s next for digital accessibility at King’s?

The main takeaway is that we need more time and space to come together, share ideas, and keep the momentum going. Event planning isn’t my forté but I’m glad King’s colleagues were keen to be involved and make the event a success.

As a result of DigAcc25, I’m setting up a digital accessibility community at King’s. This will be a space where anyone with an interest in digital accessibility can share resources, ask questions, and hopefully learn from each other. Get in touch if you’d like to be part of it!

The feedback from the day also included suggestions for incorporating accessibility into life at King’s. These ideas will be shared with senior leadership, and I hope we can shift from working in our silos to a more joined up approach. As quoted from the DigAcc25 “Welcome”, it’s time for us to become “collective voices instead of individual advocates”. Watch this space!

Thank to you to the DigAcc25 team at The University of Nottingham for putting the conference together and to all the colleagues at King’s who joined our local event.

About you the author

Clare Thompson is the Technology Enhanced Learning Manager for The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London.