{"id":14950,"date":"2025-08-21T08:08:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T08:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=14950"},"modified":"2025-08-21T09:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T09:22:03","slug":"advocating-for-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocating For Accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,” shared Reading graduate Emma Deshields on why accessibility is important, and how her time at Reading set her up for her career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"EmmaEmma, who studied psychology<\/a> at Reading, is a Senior Customer Success Manager at Verbit<\/a> \u2013 a verbal intelligence platform that aims to help make classrooms, workplaces and online environments more accessible.<\/p>\n

Talking about her role at Verbit, she said: \u201cNot only is accessibility a legal requirement in many countries, it\u2019s something that we all dip our toes into on a day-to-day basis even if we don\u2019t realise it. Every time you turn the captions on when watching Netflix, or view the description on a YouTube video, you are using accessibility features.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese features are essential in enabling a person with disabilities to enjoy content in the same way as others.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAccessibility means we all have the same opportunities, and it\u2019s important that we all advocate for accessibility, when possible, because sadly it is not always the standard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Making content accessible<\/strong><\/h4>\n

After graduation Emma began her career as a typist, and it was during this time that her interest in accessibility was first sparked.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI was passionate about making sure that the transcripts I created were accurate for clients, to ensure their content was accessible to a wider audience. As I worked my way up in the company, I began working directly with individuals on their accessibility needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, in my current role I work with my clients to ensure a range of accessibility features are incorporated, including captioning, transcription, audio description, translation and dubbing.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI work with people from all walks of life, from individuals to legal companies, and even large media clients.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Emma shared her top tips for making content more accessible. She said: \u201cSome things are more obvious. For example, make sure you are captioning any videos that you upload to social media, and ensure any images you upload include alt text, to allow users with screen readers access.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther things are less obvious. For example, QR codes are not accessible to users with low vision, so you could consider using an alternative. In addition, audio description for people who are blind or have low vision is rarely used, but is a key component of accessibility so this feature could be used more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning fundamental concepts<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Emma shared how her time at Reading prepared her for her career and gave her a fundamental understanding of individual needs, which is essential for accessibility.\u00a0She said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cStudying psychology at Reading set me up perfectly for my career. I\u2019ve always wanted to help people and I\u2019m interested in how our environment and upbringing can impact our day-to-day lives, alongside the structure and anatomy of the brain.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI learnt about linguistics and hearing which prepared me well for an accessibility role, where audio support is one of the key components.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only did my degree teach me skills I need every day in my role, but it also provided insight into how different individuals are. Everyone faces challenges every day, often unseen and regularly unacknowledged, and accessibility aims to tackle that and level the playing field for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making small changes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Emma is grateful to be working in a role which she finds rewarding and enables her to make a difference to people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\"EmmaShe said: \u201cI find my role especially rewarding when I get to work with the end users who are benefitting from access to content that they didn\u2019t have before.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me. Plus, being at the forefront of technology and learning new things every day means I never have a boring day at work.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy goal is to live a life that I\u2019m happy with, and I aim to do that by helping people. My role at Verbit enables me to do that and I hope I can continue innovating and making accessibility more accessible and affordable for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read how another Reading graduate is advocating for accessibility<\/a> at the University of Reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,” shared Reading graduate Emma Deshields on why accessibility is important, and how her time at Reading set her up for her career. Emma, who studied psychology at Reading, is a Senior Customer Success Manager at Verbit \u2013 a verbal intelligence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":14962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[221,54,17,34,41,45],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAdvocating For Accessibility - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me," shared graduate Emma Deshields on digital accessibility.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advocating For Accessibility - Connected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me," shared graduate Emma Deshields on digital accessibility.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Connected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-21T08:08:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-21T09:22:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/08\/Headers-1600-x-550-78.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"juliasmalley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"juliasmalley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/\",\"name\":\"Advocating For Accessibility - Connected\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-21T08:08:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-21T09:22:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#\/schema\/person\/c5ee593fd48cf9c8d82a6471170664fb\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,\\\" shared graduate Emma Deshields on digital accessibility.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Advocating For Accessibility\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/\",\"name\":\"Connected\",\"description\":\"Alumni magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#\/schema\/person\/c5ee593fd48cf9c8d82a6471170664fb\",\"name\":\"juliasmalley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/738c52c5a19d4553b07ee6a8cc541ab7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/738c52c5a19d4553b07ee6a8cc541ab7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"juliasmalley\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/author\/juliasmalley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Advocating For Accessibility - Connected","description":"\"Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,\" shared graduate Emma Deshields on digital accessibility.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Advocating For Accessibility - Connected","og_description":"\"Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,\" shared graduate Emma Deshields on digital accessibility.","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/","og_site_name":"Connected","article_published_time":"2025-08-21T08:08:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-21T09:22:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":550,"url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/08\/Headers-1600-x-550-78.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"juliasmalley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"juliasmalley","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/","name":"Advocating For Accessibility - Connected","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-08-21T08:08:01+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-21T09:22:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#\/schema\/person\/c5ee593fd48cf9c8d82a6471170664fb"},"description":"\"Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,\" shared graduate Emma Deshields on digital accessibility.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/08\/21\/advocating-for-accessibility\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Advocating For Accessibility"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/","name":"Connected","description":"Alumni magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#\/schema\/person\/c5ee593fd48cf9c8d82a6471170664fb","name":"juliasmalley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/738c52c5a19d4553b07ee6a8cc541ab7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/738c52c5a19d4553b07ee6a8cc541ab7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"juliasmalley"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/author\/juliasmalley\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14950"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15038,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14950\/revisions\/15038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}