How to use the accessibility tools built into M365 and Adobe.
Everyone is different and as policing strives to attract a more diverse workforce, we need to ensure that the tools we use and the information we produce and share is accessible. Similarly as the expectations on policing from our communities increases, in terms of ensuring our services are more accessible, we must ensure we think about accessibility in all aspects of our work.
Over the past few years, as the technology has improved, there has been a significant improvement of the range of ‘out of the box’ accessibility tools that are built into the most common technologies available in all forces. Whilst the tools may have been designed to improve accessibility for colleagues and users with specific needs, these same tools can help all users improve their work or daily experience. There is plenty of other tools that might add additional support if these aren’t enough to address your needs.
As our webinars return for 2023, we are starting with a 30 minute quick ‘show and tell’ on the accessibility tools that are built into Microsoft 365 and Adobe Acrobat, which ALL colleagues in forces have access to as a result of the standardised approach overseen by the Police Digital Service.
We will demonstrate some of the key tools and techniques which will help forces work in a more accessible way, but also these tools can benefit any user who may be reviewing a document, producing a report or just wants help in focusing on key information.
All the tools and tips shown are built into the existing Microsoft and Adobe tools already available to UK Police users. Whilst we recognise these tools won’t address the needs of everyone, feedback from forces clearly shows that the vast majority of users’ needs can be supported with these tools.
We will also talk about how focusing on producing accessible documents from the start, benefits all users and improves the overall accessibility of documents which are then later published to the public or shared with partner organisations.
Regular users will also benefit, some of the tools are ideal when proof reading reports, or when you are trying to access critical information in challenging environments and even on a mobile device.
REPLAY the webinar below:
See our previous webinar on Accessibility where Richard Jones from West Yorkshire Police shared his experience of providing these tools in force.
