Web accessibility training as an added-value for future localisation professionals

Throughout the last two decades, the localisation industry has witnessed and benefited from not only the improvement of translation technologies, but also the continued growth of digital content. The World Wide Web has turned into multilingualism's main ally and the ethos of access to information online has been expanded to all users, regardless of their language, culture or functional diversity. The rationale behind making the Web accessible has been studied from multiple perspectives, but little research has been devoted to understand how web localisers could contribute to a higher degree of accessibility in the multilingual web. However, a recent study illustrates that web accessibility experts start to show their support on the matter. Within such research framework, a series of seminars on web accessibility were thus conducted both for undergraduate and graduate translation students enrolled in the Localisation and Project Management courses of two European universities. Seminars included theoretical presentations and an accessibility-oriented localization exercise, preceded and followed by task-related questionnaires. The relevance of acquiring web accessibility knowledge and know-how was generally welcomed by all participants, who showed a high level of interest and motivation during the seminars, and highlighted the need of a more comprehensive programme on the subject. By incorporating accessibility into the localisation curriculum, we are improving the chances for a broader participation of localisers in the whole web development cycle and reinforcing their technological competences, while contributing to the universal goal of access to information for all