Three years of cross-university support for digital accessibility in teaching: BALLON project ends in 2023

On 30.11.23, the final meeting with our project BALLON - Barrier-free Learning and Teaching Online took place at HSB as part of the university cooperation Digital Accessibility at Universities in the State of Bremen. In addition to members from the University of Bremen and Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, Ulrike Peter, Head of the Central Office for Accessible Information Technology at the State Disability Commissioner, and Rebecca Romppel from the Central Office took part.

The BALLON project set up support structures for digital accessibility at the University of Bremen for the first time between 2021 and 2023 and established cross-university cooperation. It offered Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and the University of Bremen information materials, checklists for creating and checking accessible digital content, workshops and counselling, automatic subtitling, DGS interpreting and other support services. 

The end of the project is not due to a lack of demand - and there will be a lack of support. That's why we, Nadja Willy and Christina Broo from BALLON, attach great importance to sustainability at the end of the project, so that existing materials can continue to be used and, if necessary, a cross-university programme can be resumed. The website and materials will be archived for further use. Regardless of the end of the project, the cross-university cooperation is to be continued; a meeting is planned for 2024.

Current support options at the HSB can be found in the AULIS room "Digital Teaching for All":
 Aulis HS Bremen

Finally, we would like to refer you once again to the great Advent calendar of the Centre for Accessible Information Technology Bremen, which is available for the second time and provides daily tips on barrier-free design:
 Adventskalender 2023 der Zentralstelle für barrierefreie Informationstechnik