"Working in accessibility is one of the most rewarding and interesting jobs you could wish for. I learn something new every day" – Neil Milliken, Accessibility Lead at ATOS.
It’s GAAD – Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2023! A day to encourage people to talk, think and learn more about accessibility and inclusion, and the more than one billion people with disabilities/impairments.
As part of the Swansea University Libraries marking of GAAD, we thought it would be a good opportunity to present a history of the Swansea University Transcription Centre (SUTC). During Swansea University’s Centenary year in 2020, former SUTC team member, Alison Sandy, delved into the SUTC archive books and the Richard Burton Archives and pieced together the history of SUTC. The result was the essay in the link below, ‘The history of Swansea University Transcription Centre.’
What does the Transcription Centre do?
At SUTC, we produce accessible learning resources for students with print-disabilities at Swansea University. The term ‘print-disability’ covers a learning, physical or visual disability which prevents a person from reading conventional print. Under the Equality Act 2010, higher education institutions have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments, which include the provision of alternative, accessible formats. Recently, we were asked to write a ‘Mission Statement’ which reflects our service aims:
“Our mission is to support and enable print disabled students to maximise their academic potential by removing barriers and providing accessible resources.”
A Brief History of SUTC
SUTC, formerly known as the Recording Centre for the Blind, officially opened on 2nd of November 1995 in the Taliesin Annexe, but support for visually impaired students at Swansea University dates back much further than this, as the essay explains (link below).
The earliest form of the service in the 1970s was located in the basement of the Engineering Building. Students and staff would voluntarily give their time to record books and articles onto tapes, an aspect which continued at the Centre for decades with our community volunteers (or ‘Readers’ as we would call them) recording for an hour each, each week. The University’s commitment to supporting VI students continued and with this the service developed. In 1993, it was recorded in the University’s Annual Report by the Principal, Professor Brian Clarkson that: “Swansea now has more such students [visually impaired students] than any other Welsh institution and ranks among the top six institutions in the UK in terms of its provision in this field.” And this still rings true to this day, Swansea University is the only Welsh university which has a Transcription Centre, and is one of only seven UK universities with a service of this kind. We have established strong links with the RNC (Royal National College for the Blind) in Hereford and New College Worcester, the RNIB and other institutions, organisations and individuals across the sector.
In 2004 the service moved to the purpose-built Amy Dillwyn building, where you can still find us and in 2009 changed to its current name ‘Swansea University Transcription Centre’. In 2014, in an important development for widening access, the SUTC service became free for students with a medically attested print-disability at Swansea University. Fast forward to 2023 and the team support around 20 students studying a variety of subjects and who need a range of accessible formats – some of whom we have supported from Undergraduate to PhD level!
To find out more, you can visit our web page: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/student-support/transcription-centre/
You can contact us on braille@swansea.ac.uk, follow us on Twitter: @SUTranscription, and you can find us in the Amy Dillwyn Building (number 15 on the Singleton Campus map).
[From left to right: Tina Webber (Transcription Centre Manager), Angharad Brown, Naomi Steele and Sofie O’Shea (Transcription Co-ordinators).]