Why Should I Bother?

There are many reasons for investing in your personal development, ranging from increased efficiency to increased job satisfaction and employability.

But how can JISC Techdis help you invest in yourself? Why should the time you take investing this way be focused on issues to do with accessibility and technology?

In both work and education environments, all kinds of people and all kinds of technology are linked through a variety of relationships.  Marketing staff use the website as a promotion vehicle to reach new audiences; managers investing in costly technical infrastructure need to see a return on investment reflected in improved business efficiencies; library staff support a diverse range of users with online catalogues and e-books. Within education specifically, improvements to both learner retention and achievement figures seem to be vital components of management information and tutors support learners in an increasingly broad range of settings. Disabled users are only one part of a very long spectrum of personal needs and preferences. There is little that is special about the way an organisation meets the needs of disabled users, in most cases it is simply an extension of the process it adopts for all users, understanding their strengths and weaknesses and adapting tools and techniques to match. In other words, it is about good practice. Many of the good practices that benefit disabled users also benefit many people without disabilities. By investing in yourself and taking time to explore the JISC Techdis resources you are likely to improve your understanding of people, your ability to meet different needs and your effectiveness at using a range of technologies productively including common personal technologies and how to take advantage of them in an appropriate manner.