Accessibility and Inclusion in Virtual Facilitation for the Perspective of Finnish Non-governmental Organizations
Nahkasiipi, Veera (2023)
Nahkasiipi, Veera
2023
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023052514427
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023052514427
Tiivistelmä
Digital skills can be regarded as a new civic skill, and it is essential to understand what are the elements that make up a reachable digital experience. This bachelor’s thesis explores the concepts of accessibility and inclusion in connection with virtual facilitation. The topic is discussed from the Finnish non-governmental organizations’ point of view.
Most non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have limited resources or inadequate technical know-how to thoroughly understand our contemporary digital environment. Members of the NGOs have different levels of digital skills, and NGOs’ successful digital presence requires a basic understanding of accessibility, inclusion, and virtual facilitation.
This thesis aimed to understand the current state of accessibility knowledge and virtual facilitation skill level of Finnish NGOs. The broad topic was approached using Järjestödigi 2020 and 2022 surveys as a quantitative basis and then conducting theory-driven qualitative research for five Finnish national-level NGOs. All these NGOs were voluntary national defense organizations formed from regional-level districts consisting of local associations. Qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured email interviews in April 2023.
The objectives of the thesis were to identify the basic principles behind accessibility and inclusion; to understand the current state of accessibility knowledge and utilization in Finnish NGOs; to identify the basic principles behind virtual facilitation; to discover the current skill level of virtual facilitation in Finnish NGOs; to present how to ensure accessibility and inclusion in virtual facilitation; and create a simple and practical accessibility and inclusion preparation tool for virtual facilitation that anyone can use to understand the topic better.
The research results show that accessibility is currently understood in different ways among Finnish NGOs, but it is also seen as an interesting and important topic. Finnish NGOs are not utilizing accessibility and virtual facilitation as well as they could, even though there is a lot of potential. One reason for this may be the inadequate resources of the NGOs. The modest sample size of qualitative research impacts the reliability of the results, but there are possible topics for further accessibility and virtual facilitation research within Finnish NGOs.
The final result chapter of the thesis presents a brief introduction to accessibility, inclusion, and virtual facilitation, followed by a practical accessibility and inclusion preparation tool for virtual facilitation. The tool offers a simple approach to the topic, but by using it carefully and iteratively, it can provide a way to organize more successful, accessible, and inclusive virtual events. The tool could be developed further into more precise and graphical training material for NGOs and other entities who want to learn about the topic.
Most non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have limited resources or inadequate technical know-how to thoroughly understand our contemporary digital environment. Members of the NGOs have different levels of digital skills, and NGOs’ successful digital presence requires a basic understanding of accessibility, inclusion, and virtual facilitation.
This thesis aimed to understand the current state of accessibility knowledge and virtual facilitation skill level of Finnish NGOs. The broad topic was approached using Järjestödigi 2020 and 2022 surveys as a quantitative basis and then conducting theory-driven qualitative research for five Finnish national-level NGOs. All these NGOs were voluntary national defense organizations formed from regional-level districts consisting of local associations. Qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured email interviews in April 2023.
The objectives of the thesis were to identify the basic principles behind accessibility and inclusion; to understand the current state of accessibility knowledge and utilization in Finnish NGOs; to identify the basic principles behind virtual facilitation; to discover the current skill level of virtual facilitation in Finnish NGOs; to present how to ensure accessibility and inclusion in virtual facilitation; and create a simple and practical accessibility and inclusion preparation tool for virtual facilitation that anyone can use to understand the topic better.
The research results show that accessibility is currently understood in different ways among Finnish NGOs, but it is also seen as an interesting and important topic. Finnish NGOs are not utilizing accessibility and virtual facilitation as well as they could, even though there is a lot of potential. One reason for this may be the inadequate resources of the NGOs. The modest sample size of qualitative research impacts the reliability of the results, but there are possible topics for further accessibility and virtual facilitation research within Finnish NGOs.
The final result chapter of the thesis presents a brief introduction to accessibility, inclusion, and virtual facilitation, followed by a practical accessibility and inclusion preparation tool for virtual facilitation. The tool offers a simple approach to the topic, but by using it carefully and iteratively, it can provide a way to organize more successful, accessible, and inclusive virtual events. The tool could be developed further into more precise and graphical training material for NGOs and other entities who want to learn about the topic.