Published: 2 August 2021
Over the seventeen months, we’ve all become far more familiar with the use of technology when it comes to higher education.
Due to the pandemic, much of the way you’ve lived your student lives has been online, through video streams and instant messenger chats.
But not everyone accesses technology in the same way.
There are plenty of reasons someone may need extra tools to use the University of Sunderland in London website.
That could be to do with your hearing, sight, language skills and more.
But what we at the University are sure of above anything else is that every student has the right to the same high-quality education and access.
That’s why, for the last few months, we’ve had the ReciteMe toolbar included on our website.
This innovative piece of technology has been created to help students like yourself access the full range of information we have to offer.
That includes a screen reader which plays a recording of the text on the page out loud and the ability to translate every page of the site into over 100 languages.
ReciteMe also provides buttons that let you change the size of the text, edit the colours used (useful for colour-blindness), add in a ruler and look things up in a built-in dictionary.
All of these mean anyone, whatever their needs, will be able to access our site in comfort and enjoyment.
Studies show that 1 in 5 people have impairments which make accessing content online difficult.
At the University of Sunderland in London, we believe that accessibility is at the heart of everything we do.
That’s why it’s so important for us to make sure our website is completely available to anyone who wants to use it.
That belief became even more vital as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and we started shifting our lives online.
That’s why we’re proud to be paving the way as one of the first institutions, along with the University of Sunderland, to include assistive technology on our website in 2021.
This year, the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide rated us the University of the Year for Social Inclusion.
We believe in the importance of extending that passiona for inclusion to everything we do, including our digital world.
If you want to see how the ReciteMe programme works for yourself, simply click Accessibility at the top right of any page on the website.
Try out a few different options and find the verison of the University of Sunderland in London website that works for you.
You can even save your preferences so the system will remember you each time you come to the site.
If you need help accessing any of our services during your time at the University, get in touch with our Health and Wellbeing team.
You can speak with them confidentially by booking an appointment online through Compass. You can also email them at londonhealth@sunderland.ac.uk or call on 0207 531 7343.
Find out more by following #WeAreSunLon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.