
### Definition

Web accessibility is a concept which concerns the universality of access to digital content; the core idea is that variations in technology, cultural background, disability, age and, in some cases, wealth, should not limit access to content distributed online. This is perhaps best summarised by the [World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)](https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility#wai) who write standards for Web accessibility (such as WCAG):

> The Web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability.

A common misconception is that web accessibility is exclusively concerned with physical disability (such as visual impairment) however, while it is true that disability is a central aspect of accessibility frameworks such as [WCAG](https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/), this is by no means the whole story. As is evident in the quote above, socio-technical standards are implemented to ensure access for a diversity of users defined in a diversity of ways.

Some simple considerations for developing online spaces which are web accessible might be:

- Can my webpage be effectively accessed over a 3G connection?
- Can all of the text on my webpage be selected?
- Is there a suitable contrast-ratio for important (non-decorative) pieces of text?
- Does all visual/non-text content have text descriptions (such as an 'alt tag')?
- Is my content hidden by a paywall or does it require user-details (such as an email address) for entry?
- Are there multiple ways to access content which requires novel user-input (such as through 3D visualisation)?
- Can I navigate my website without a mouse?
- Does the content on my webpage use domain-specific language (such as acronyms or technical terminology) which require additional explanation or contextualisation?

There is no fix-all approach to accessibile provision in communicative spaces online (or offline) – in it's fullest form, accessibility is a loose concept which necessitates a set of core practices that require continuous maintenance and attention.

### Standards & Tools

There are plenty of standards and tools in circulation to help facilitate the creation of accessible online spaces.

### Web Accessibility Regulations

Web accessibility for public facing institutions (such as universities) is legislated by UK Government and regulated through the Government Digital Service (GDS). One of the most important pieces of legislation is the [_"Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations"_](/resources/accessibility-regulations) introduced in 2018; a useful [article](https://uxdesign.cc/uk-universities-and-the-new-website-accessibility-regulations-8a1f6f9eb012) on the introduction of this legislation for universities can be found from the [UX collective](https://uxdesign.cc/).

The impetus for the legislation is broadly aligned with the W3C's definition of web accessibility, however there is a stronger focus on physical disabilities:

> Accessibility means more than putting things online. It means making your content and design clear and simple enough so that most people can use it without needing to adapt it, while supporting those who do need to adapt things.

The regulations essentially stipulate that websties produced by bodies funded by the public sector should meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines and/or publish an accessibility statement:

> Your website or mobile app will meet the newer legal requirements if you:
>
> - meet the [international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard](https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/understanding-wcag) - although there may be [valid legal reasons for not meeting accessibility standards](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-requirements-for-public-sector-websites-and-apps#exemptions)
> - publish an accessibility statement that explains how accessible your website or mobile app is

[![Chelsea Degree Show Screenshot](/image-20210302204138105.png)](https://chelseadegreeshow.com/)

Above is an example of the [UAL: Chelsea Degree Show](https://chelseadegreeshow.com/) which had to be archived after a failure to comply with the regulations.

The accessibility statement for the official UAL graduate showcase website (produced with IBM) has a number of known non-compliances with WCAG 2.1 AA. Some of these are technical issues but others are to do with the nature of the work displayed, for example:

> Much of the content on this website has been produced by our students and should be considered as user generated content. While we have produced digital accessibility guidance to our students, we cannot guarantee that all student content is accessible.

– [Accessibility Statement](https://graduateshowcase.arts.ac.uk/c/accessibility-statement)

We could then say that this sets a precedent for any approach to the presentation of Illustration work on the courses own virtual space.


WCAG 2.1 Guidelines

The A11y Project

Lighthouse

Accessibility


### Definition

Broadly defined, documentation is a concept which describes the **record of a process or object.** When thinking about online spaces for the presentation of design work this can take on two more precise definitions:

- In **computer science**, the term 'documentation' is frequently used to refer to sets of instructions or descriptions which define a piece of software or a programming language (and which may also teach a person how to use it).
- In **design practice**, 'documentation' is often used to describe resources, records or references (such as those in an archive) that can describe or display a piece of work whether that is a scan, photograph, written description, etc.

This second definition is particularly important when developing online spaces for the presentation of design work (such as a degree show or showcase), since most of the work presented online is only accessible via documentation and not 'directly' (as might be the case in a physical show). Unless the work is designed to be presented in a web-browser (such as GIF), it is unlikely that the work shown will not require some kind of mediation via some kind of documentation strategy.

The 'computer-science' definition is similarly important however, as it will be necessary to produce documentation of how people can practically upload or 'share' their work on a given platform (i.e. _the documentation of documetation)_. This also has implications for the concept of [Governance](/concepts/governance).


GYST Documentation

Application Programming Interface

Content Management Systems

Maps

Photogrammetry

Markdown

360 Photography

Documentation


### Definition

While it's a simple observation, one of the defining characteristics of the internet as a publishing space is that it is an **interactive** medium. This means that there are choices to be made about the degree and types of **participation** (which is to say, discovery, commenting, sharing, etc) that audiences and producers can **engage** in.

Engagement can therefore take on many forms, some of which may be:

- What pre-existing context(s) the space is engaging in.
- How audiences find the online space in the first place.
- What **quantitative** methods are offered to audiences for interactive engagement, such as 'liking'.
- What **qualitative** methods are offered for engagement, such as commeting or sharing.
- Which strategies are used outside of the space itself to engage with audiences, for example: social media such as Twitter or Instagram.

The answers to these questions are not obvious as approaches to engagement depend heavily on a variety of factors, for example: the concept which sits behind the show/space, and; the technical and social/personal capacity to facilitate different types of input (Is moderation required? Is it part of a broader 'engagement strategy'?).


Digital Governance for Designers

Streaming

Social Media

Engagement


### Definition

A 'governance framework' is a means for ensuring that knowledge within a system or group is effectively stored and utilised – this might be through the production of tools (such as [voting systems](/tech/quadratic-voting)), training or [documentation](/concepts/documentation). Common governance issues for online spaces (especially at large institutions) might concern collaborative decision making, ownership of user accounts, adherence to style guidelines or simple responsibility for contact forms.

In her book [Managing Chaos](https://rosenfeldmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ManagingChaos-Ch1.pdf), management consultant, Lisa Welchman has a good definition of digital governance which centres on the accountability of people within organisations:

> Digital governance is a framework for establishing accountability, roles, and decision-making authority for an organization’s digital presence—which means its websites, mobile sites, social channels, and any other Internet and Web-enabled products and services. Having a well-designed digital governance framework minimizes the number of tactical debates regarding the nature and management of an organization’s digital presence by making clear who on your digital team has decision-making authority for these areas: **strategy**, **policy** & **standards**.

While this is a useful definition in many ways—centring the responsibility of known individuals within large organisations—it is not necessarily the most practical approach for smaller, fluid groups such as student groups or yearly cohorts, or course staff members. RadicalxChange (RxC) is a group that similarly focuses on governance frameworks, albeit with a more 'decentralizing' approach – primarily concerning [_"the ability to manage common resources fairly, and to make complex decisions in groups."_](https://www.radicalxchange.org/media/papers/The_Handbook_for_Radical_Local_Democracy.pdf)

It is likely that a blend of large organisational documentation and accountability, combined with more flexible approaches to (or tools for) decentralized decision-making will be most useful in the context here.


The Handbook for Radical Local Democracy v2.0

RadicalxChange

Quadratic Voting

Governance


### Definition

Integration, in a general sense, is the action of bringing two disparate things together into a whole – similarly to ['documentation'](/concepts/documentation), however, in this context what is meant by the term takes on two more precise definitions:

- In a **digital context**, integration is a concept that describes the degree to which data or information on a given devise or program can be read or manipulated by another device using a standard format. For example, Adobe Photoshop and Google Chrome's ability to both read and manipulate JPEG files.
- In a **broader context**, integration signals the ability to capture and productively use pre-existing systems, tools and knowledge – whether that is digital in nature or not. This might manifest as interpersonal or interdisciplinary cooperation, or as the ability to post a Tweet every time you upload to Instagram.

One of the key questions when considering integration, especially for new digital systems, is: **What practices already exist that we can adopt and learn from?** It is surprisngly easy to 'reinvent the wheel' online!

It is important to also acknowledge when there are limits to integration in digital spaces – not everything can or should be posted online or 'integrated' into digital space.


What Is Instagram’s Place in Design Education?

IFTTT

Integration


### Definition

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the presentation of work online happens within a 'pedagogic' or teaching/learning context at the University. The concept of pedagogy is therefore concerned with how experiments or implementations of new systems for the presentation of student work online can also become moments for learning within the illustration program.

Some key questions here may be:

- What do we learn by building a platform together?
- How can we create teaching experiences which facilitate the exhibition of student work?
- What impact does the migration of work into digital space have on outcomes and assessment?


Pedagogy


### Definition

A basic definition of the concept of 'remuneration' is payment or compensation received for services provided, in this case most likely a student or recent-graduate. This may influence the context here in at least two ways:

- Remuneration for services provided in the production of an online space.
- Remuneration for work sold online.

In the first case, it is not immediately clear what 'services' might require remuneration outside the assessable content of a given cohort. However, this category could apply to recent graduates quite straightforwardly; for example, if they desire to keep the content of their online space 'updated' with new content – how might the university facilitate this with resources whether financial or otherwise?

In the second case, long-term or complex systems for remuneration (especially financial remuneration) of work sold within a course would most likely require [governance](/concepts/governance) and consensus between the institution, the course and the students. [UAL's intellectual property (IP) policy](https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/69035/UAL-IP-POLICY-PDF-646KB.pdf) may have an effect here, most notably the fifth principle:

> 5. Students are entitled to sell works created within and in association with the University, provided that their Course Leader agrees that those works are no longer required for assessment, exhibition or retention, or is satisfied that the work is still available until the final academic assessment. Where sales are made from University premises or in circumstances where the University acts as the agent, a service fee (20% of the sale price inclusive of VAT) will be retained by the University.

However students may wish to also devise systems of remuneration autonomously (such as through online advertising); how might these systems be facilitated, distributed and maintained during and after graduation? And to what extend should the course become involved in the first place?


ECAL Typefaces

Zora

Remuneration


### Definition

Online security or 'cybersecurity' is a term used to describe a set of socio-technical practices which ensure the protection of sensitive information online. In this context, many security concerns can be mitigated by simply minimising the amount of personal information required in the first place; for example, evaluating whether it is necessary to store certain kinds of personally identifiable information such as names and addresses.

From a technical perspective, similarly to concerns around [accessibility](/concepts/accessibility), effective security measures often simply involve implementing well-documented standards ([such as those listed by MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security)) or by using third-party tools that specialise in a given service (such as payments or data storage).

However, governance frameworks also has serious implications for security, and these are not so easily solved with technical knowledge but instead require clear guidelines within teams and between stakeholders. For example, it is important to make people aware of security risks before asking them to enter information into a system, even if that information seems benign.


Security


### Definition

In this context, the concept of 'sustainability' can broadly be defined as a concern with how an online space can exist over a prolonged period of time. However, approaches to this question can be broken down into two discrete areas:

- The production of digital, online systems that cause minimal damage to the environment (predominately through reduced computation) – here we might think of a 'prolonged period of time' as 100's or 1000's of years.
- The efficiency with which an online space can stay 'up to date' (with either content or software) – in this case, over a number of months or years.

Essentially, we want to be able to create systems that are effective and efficient at presenting content online; both for the planet (through 'green' solutions) and interpersonally (through reduced workloads).


Low←Tech Magazine

Can the Internet Survive Climate Change?

Sustainability


### Definition

In this context, the concept of **visualisation** concerns the overall presentation of work in an online exhibition; i.e. the design of the space itself , and how this impacts the curation, possibilities and presentation of student work. For example, if a group's work is presented exclusively through 360 ([bubble](/resources/bubble-vision)) photographs, this has clear ramifications for how one might [document](/concepts/documentation) or prepare work in advance or how audiences can interact with the work on display.

Beyond the more technical considerations, visualisation may also relate to an 'identity' or 'brand' for a given show – questions here could concern the [decision-making](/concepts/governance) processes which lead up to the creation of an identity, or how this identity is [integrated](/concepts/integration) within a broader ecosystem of actors, stakeholders, organisations and services.

While separated here for the purposes of definition, these two approaches to visualisation (the approach to both **curation** and **identity**) are really two aspects of a larger concept that is the **concept** (critical or otherwise) that sits behind any presentation of work.


Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace

Bubble Vision

Quantum Natives

Left Gallery

Groocks Gallery

DS2020 Simulator

Scrolling the Arcane

Google Arts & Culture

Visualisation


This is a work-in-progress – check back later for updates!


Documentation Strategies


> “a11y” stands for “accessibility.” It is a numeronym, with 11 representing the count of letters between the letter a and the letter y. Other numeronyms you may be familiar with include: i18n (internationalization), P2P (peer to peer), WWII (World War 2), etc.

The a11y project builds tools and gathers resources to assist the production of accessible digital content.



<CustomYoutube src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cn21lQL5b2g" />

> Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace is an Aboriginally determined research-creation network whose goal is to ensure Indigenous presence in the web pages, online environments, video games, and virtual worlds that comprise cyberspace.



The regulations essentially stipulate that websties produced by bodies funded by the public sector should meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines and/or publish an accessibility statement:

> Your website or mobile app will meet the newer legal requirements if you:
>
> - meet the [international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard](https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/understanding-wcag) - although there may be [valid legal reasons for not meeting accessibility standards](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-requirements-for-public-sector-websites-and-apps#exemptions)
> - publish an accessibility statement that explains how accessible your website or mobile app is


Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018


> But is this digital scramble a turning point? Re Rebaudengo does not consider the OVRs revolutionary. “We can look at them as an incremental innovation,” he says. “They may change collectors’ behaviour, and hopefully will become a channel to expand significantly the number of collectors, making art more accessible and the acquisition experience more transparent and less intimidating.” He believes that in future the art world will depend more on hybrid physical-digital models.


Are art collectors embracing online viewing rooms - or getting tired of them?


<CustomYoutube src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T1Qhy0_PCjs" />

> “The viewer is absolutely central, but at the same time, he or she is missing from the scene,” she said, speaking to an overflow crowd at YSA’s 32 Edgewood Gallery.
>
> She considered the isolating nature of the effect. She applied it to the rise of reality television and automation, referencing a vast mechanized Amazon warehouse where employees are treated as robots.
>
> “Is this ‘bubble vision’ — this 360-degree vision — a training scheme to adapt humans to a world from which they are increasingly missing because they have been replaced by invisible systems or automation or robot?” asked Steyerl, whose research focuses on media, technology and the distribution of images. “Are people rehearsing how to be their own ghosts?”

– [Don’t be fooled by ‘bubble vision,’ says visiting artist Hito Steyerl, Yale News](https://news.yale.edu/2018/02/27/dont-be-fooled-bubble-vision-says-visiting-artist-hito-steyerl)



> How the internet adapts to the pressures of the climate crisis will change daily life as we know it, from high-speed trading to shit-posting, from email to aircraft control. It’s an open question whether the internet of the future will be as reliable as it is today. In fact, it’s likely that internet access will be among the many scarce resources that future generations will fight over, and that this unequal distribution could create two different internets: one for the poor and another for the rich.

An article from the New Republic, particularly interesting for highlighting the underlying funding models of many current websites (primarily advertising), and the ecological damage this produces. The article also features Kris de Decker of [Low-Tech Magazine](/resources/low-tech-magazine).


Digital Governance for Designers, Lisa Welchman


[![A virtual avatar standing in a 3D environment looking at paintings on the walls](/image-20200527164948354.jpg "A virtual avatar standing in a 3D environment looking at paintings on the walls")](https://www.instagram.com/p/CLUS0N_Fmir/)

Due to a disatisfactory institutional response from Glasgow School of Arts, a group of students built their own virtual show featuring the work of 135 graduating students.



[![A screenshot of the ECAL typefaces website, featuring a list of typefaces for sale](/image-20210302203436856.png)](https://ecal-typefaces.ch/)

> ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne is probably the first university in the world to have launched an online type foundry, allowing direct access for anyone to a selection of typefaces, all designed by students.

The ECAL Typefaces project is notable for the concept of producing a 'foundry' for outgoing students. The creation of a shared _commercial_ space, possibly with a constraint on the type of work that can be sold (such as a typeface, icon, etc).


GMDLCC


[![A screenshot of the Google Arts & Culture website, featuring a 360 image of the British Museum](/image-20210302211735673.png "A screenshot of the Google Arts & Culture website, featuring a 360 image of the British Museum")](https://artsandculture.google.com/streetview/british-museum/AwEp68JO4NECkQ)



[![A 3D rendered image of an avatar painting a gallery on a hillside](/image-20210312202608482.jpg "A 3D rendered image of an avatar painting a gallery on a hillside")](https://www.instagram.com/p/B0v8q37Hlqd/)



> Next to the original physical work itself, good documentation is the best long-term investment you can make in your art practice. It will be the backbone of your art archive, and the primary factor in how your entire practice is viewed long-term. Remember that just because you may have strong work doesn’t mean that it will be perceived that way through your documentation. Bad documentation = bad work.

A useful resource with tips on how to document physical work for exhibition (or storage) in online spaces.



> left gallery produces and sells downloadable objects since 2015



> Low-tech Magazine questions the belief in technological progress, and highlights the potential of past knowledge and technologies for designing a sustainable society.

Not only does this website contain lots of useful and interesting information on 'low-tech solutions' to 'high-tech problems', it is also solar powered.



[![A screenshot of the Quantum Natives website, featuring an abstract, navigable map with virtual overlays and buttons](/image-20210303143126831.png "A screenshot of the Quantum Natives website, featuring an abstract, navigable map with virtual overlays and buttons")](http://quantumnatives.com/)

> Quantum Natives are a geographically-scattered media collective and record label...

The Quantum Natives website is an interesting approach to the documentation and visualisation of events and media, using a map over a more traditional layout.



[![A logo depicting the word 'RadicalxChange' in a sans-serif typeface on a bright yellow background](/image-20210314135845.png "A logo depicting the word 'RadicalxChange' in a sans-serif typeface on a bright yellow background")](https://www.radicalxchange.org/)

> RadicalxChange (RxC) is a global movement for next-generation political economies. It advances plurality, equality, community, and decentralization through upgrades of democracy, markets, the data economy, the commons, and identity.



[![A screenshot of the Scrolling the Arcane website, featuring a 3D rendered horizon at sunset](/image-20210302210644759.png "A screenshot of the Scrolling the Arcane website, featuring a 3D rendered horizon at sunset")](https://scrollingthearcane.com/en/)

> In the face of the rising number of mobile apps offering cartomancy, astrology, or quiromancy services, _Scrolling the Arcane_ brought together designers, artists, and researchers to reflect and question this context. Why are digital entrepreneurs interested in astrology? What models and predictive technologies coexist in these services’ configurations? What markets feed from the global crisis and anxiety?

_Scrolling the Arcane_, is not only an interesting conceptual meditation on contemporary digital tools but also useful technical example in its use of a 3D navigation strategy where work appears as a constellation to be navigated by 'looking'.


Scrolling The Arcane


> This Handbook is a toolkit for local policymakers and engaged citizens to take new approaches to some of the most pressing political problems. From voting and citizen engagement to investment in shared public goods to e-scooter regulation, this Handbook addresses crucial urban issues from a simple, clarifying point of view. Namely, we think that excessive concentrations of power, whether private or public, inhibit democracy and distort markets. Informed by leading research in economic incentive design, RadicalxChange represents a new “middle path” through the dilemmas of public versus private, left versus right, and market versus design. In this spirit, this Handbook presents three new policies and walks through applications of each to several urban issues.



The [World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)](https://www.w3.org/) is an international community developing web standards. They publish comprehensive guidelines on 'Web Content Accessibility' (WCAG) which can be viewed in full [here](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/), with a breakdown available [here](https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/components/).

There is a useful review tool [here](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/) which can provide a checklist to meet WCAG standards to `A`, `AA` and `AAA` levels – it is worth noting that UK guidelines only request `AA` compliance. The guidance is broken up into 4 key concepts: **Perceivable**, **Operable**, **Understandable** & **Robust**– a few examples of the guidelines relevant for us are:

- All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose...
- Content does not restrict its view and operation to a single display orientation, such as portrait or landscape, unless a specific display orientation is essential.
- All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface...
- The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined.

While these guidelines might sound difficult or complex to implement, these requirements are often a core part of digital languages such as HTML, or frameworks such as React, with a whole host of tools available to check for WCAG compatibility.


Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1


> ...Instagram has also proven to be an excellent platform for finding highly specific communities of like-minded people, geographic boundaries be damned. Unlike higher education, it’s available to anyone with an internet connection. And when used inside of an educational context, it can help forge connections—between people, between styles—and grant access to designers and aesthetic traditions that fall outside the often limited range of the traditional canon.



Zora is a digital marketplace which allows creators to 'mint' non-fungible tokens (NFT's) of their digital work to sell on the Ethereum blockchain.



This is a work-in-progress – check back later for updates! ✌️


360° Photography

Application Programming Interfaces


[![lighthouse](/lighthouse.png)](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse)

> Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. You can run it against any web page, public or requiring authentication. It has audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, SEO and more.


Discovery


<BaseMap />

This is a work-in-progress – check back later for updates! ✌️



> Quadratic Voting (QV) is a redesigned voting method reflecting the intensity of people’s preferences in collective decisions. It greatly mitigates tyranny-of-the-majority and factional control problems.
>
> Voters receive budgets of “voice credits,” which they allocate to different questions on the ballot to signal the intensity of their conviction. Their voice credits convert to “counted votes” according to their square root. So if you put one voice credit on an issue, that is one vote; four credits are two votes; nine credits are three votes, and so on.

– [RadicalxChange](https://www.radicalxchange.org/concepts/quadratic-voting/)

<QuadraticVotingExample />

In the simple example above, you can vote for any single proposal a maximum of 4 times – this gives you a total number of 4 votes for your 30 credits. However, if you spread your votes according to your preference between all 5 proposals, you can actually vote up to 10 times with the same 30 credits.

This mechanism is therefore designed to incentivise higher levels of engagement with a variety of different proposals, as voters can exert the most influence by distributing votes according to **degrees of preference,** rather than single choices. This also gives a more accurate picture of the preferences of a cohort writ large.


illustration.show

concepts

resources

presentations

tech