Editing for accessibility – user-friendly tools, useful tips (a repeat of the PEG 30th Anniversary Conference presentation)
Join PEG for our webinar series, where you will have the opportunity to upgrade your knowledge and skills as editors and proofreaders in a variety of ways: linguistic, stylistic, business, digital, technical, professional and more. During this webinar on 3 October, our presenter will explain what accessibility means in the context of writing and editing and share tips for making digital content more accessible to readers. She will also give an overview of the Check Accessibility feature available in Microsoft applications.
Focus:Each of the tips will be illustrated with examples. Attendees will also have the chance to apply some of the tips during the session by coming up with a “more accessible way” of writing certain elements of digital copy. The idea is to give an overview of what is available so that they can explore the tools further in their own time.
Date: Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Time: 18:30 to 20:30
Place: Online (Zoom meeting)
Facilitator: Melissa Davidson
CPD hours: Attendees will receive a certificate confirming their attendance and their having earned 2 hours’ worth of core CPD; those who opt to listen to the audio recording of the webinar instead, without actually attending, will earn 20 minutes’ worth of discretionary CPD time.
There is no pre-webinar exercise or reading.
About our facilitator
Melissa Davidson worked as an independent copywriter, plain-language editor, trainer and consultant for several years before returning to the corporate world. She is currently employed as a subeditor for a team of talented writers at NTT, a global technology business, and is the Global Lead for the company’s Accessibility Alliance (a volunteer role). Melissa is also a PEG mentor, focusing on business and plain-language editing.
About the webinar
Accessibility is gaining more attention worldwide, not only as ‘the right thing to do’ but also as a way for organisations to differentiate themselves and build their brand reputation. In light of these developments, we may well see more requests to ‘edit for accessibility’ in future.
This session will give an overview of the user-friendly tools in standard Microsoft packages that can help editors make digital content more accessible. We will also cover some easy-to-apply guidelines for writing and editing text that help people access digital content more easily.
At the end of this session, you’ll be able to:
- Explain the concept of accessibility in the context of the digital world.
- Show how improving accessibility for some actually makes things better for all.
- Find and use the Accessibility Check feature in MS Word and PowerPoint.
- Write better headings, alt text, link text, close captions and more.
- Say with confidence that you’re an editor who can provide guidance and editing services on the subject.
Cost
| Affiliation | Registration fee (by/on 2 October) |
|---|---|
| PEG members | R275 |
| LAMP members* | R475 |
| Non-affiliated members | R675 |
*LAMP members: Association of Southern African Indexers and Bibliographers (ASAIB), ProJourn, Southern African Freelancers’ Association (SAFREA), South African Science Journalists’ Association (SASJA) and the South African Translators’ Institute (SATI).
Please register by completing and emailing the registration form to Sharon Rose.
Deadline for registrations: 12:00 on 2 October.
Cancellation policy
If members are unable to attend this webinar after having registered and paid for it, a full refund is possible if cancellations are received by Sharon Rose by no later than 12 noon on 2 October. Once the final number of attendees has been confirmed on the eve of the webinar, no refunds are possible.
In addition, should you be prevented from participating in full or in part on the day of the webinar owing to Eskom loadshedding, you will be entitled to take either the same webinar or another on the 2023 webinar programme. When this occurs, the onus will be on you to inform the webinar coordinator of your disqualification on this ground and to specify which alternative webinar you would like to transfer your registration to.
Remember, though, that as a would-be or part-participant on the day, you will in any event receive the audio recording of the entire event plus PDFs of the PPT slides.
Use the early-bird special: save money and secure your spot at this webinar by registering early!