Accessibility
In order to increase the accessibility of the iGEM Stockholm 2022 Wiki for differently abled individuals, a variety of considerations were made. To make the web page more dyslexia friendly, we integrated a special dyslexia friendly mode for the site, which when switched (by clicking a button), follows several dyslexia friendly guidelines described by the British Dyslexia Association. This includes the use of Times New Roman which is a recommended sans serif font, in which letters appear less crowded. To further increase readability, an increased inter-letter spacing was used. Furthermore, the option of using a light mode background was influenced by it being more dyslexia friendly [1]. To make sure that the guidelines we follow increase readability, we also asked relatives with dyslexia to give us feedback regarding these changes and if the changes made it easier for them to read the content.
Care was taken to include literal text descriptions of all pictures and figures on the wiki, wherever possible. Such descriptions allow image contents to be accessible with text-to-speech programs, making the site more user friendly for the visually impaired, as per recommendations by the American Foundation for the Blind [2]. Following a similar rationale, our media team created their illustrations (such as logos and informative figures) with the intent of being as legible as possible with red-green colourblindness.
Outside of the wiki, our accessibility efforts extended into the wet lab. Namely, wheelchair friendly lab practices were implemented. This included the use of a height adjustable lab bench, and storage of everyday lab materials such as pipette tips, microcentrifuge tubes and buffers/media in areas within reach (as opposed to high cupboards etc). Such adaptations may seem simple, but were found to be personally very helpful to the wheelchair user in our team.
Project idea
With our project BiG-IF, we have been focusing on pernicious anaemia, an autoimmune disease that is affecting a lot of people around the world. By designing a pill containing a recombinant intrinsic factor together with vitamin B12, we want to tackle this problem and make life easier for all people suffering from its symptoms.
Animation. IF slam dunking B12
Promotional video
One of many words which describes our team the best is “diversity”. Besides uniting students from 4 different universities, all of us have different backgrounds of study programs, working experiences and origins. Especially due to the latter, as well as friends and family, we were able to translate the script of our promotional video from English into 14 different languages and to provide 11 different voice-overs. Our aim was to inform the general public about the problem we are tackling and about our solution in the most understandable way possible. What would make it more understandable than watching it in your native language?
In addition, we chose to use animation to visualize the processes within the body and describe the different mechanisms in different languages to reach out to as many people as possible.
You have probably seen our promotional video in English already but have you checked out if it is also available in your native language? Here, you can select your language and watch the video with the voice of one of our team members (if your language is not available, have a look into the subtitles!):
SynBio Dictionary
When the iGEM team from Lund approached us with this idea it was impossible to say no to it! Together with the team from Lund in Sweden, Paris-Saclay in France and many more, we created a dictionary with terms from the world of traditional biology, genetic engineering as well as synthetic biology. With that, we want to approach people without any science background and support them in understanding the world of iGEM. It should ease the introduction to all of the projects and also raise their curiosity about biological science. If you became curious about this project how about having a look at our collaboration page for more information?
Click here to jump right into it:
Human practices
To improve the project and meet the needs of society, it has been important for us to get feedback from both experts in the field and the general public. During our work within human practices and outreach, we have therefore been including different age groups and professions. Apart from having a close contact with researchers and doctors, we have also tried to include government authorities and politicians in the improvement of our project and product development.
Our main goal within outreach and education was to introduce synthetic biology to as many people as possible, in the easiest way possible. By making a LEGO game, writing a book, organizing workshops in schools, and also being a part of Level Up Collaboration and ForskarFredag, our team succeeded in targeting five groups of people.
Carousel. Joël and Amela talking to politicians at Amedalen, Amela presenting our project in front of highschool students, Praghadesh handing the flyer about synthetic biology to other students at our university