Katy-Jayne's Experience - A Placement Case Study
Text by Elianna Ausdahl, placement participant, 2024.
Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings opened in 1797. Now considered “the grandparent of skyscrapers”, it was the first iron framed building in the world. Its life began as a Flaxmill until, in 1897, it was converted to a Maltings. It then lay empty from 1987 until 2005, when it was resurrected by Historic England. Here began the Flaxmill Maltings Project, an ongoing four-part endeavour to restore and breathe new life into the site.
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, Historic England ran 60 work placements between 2019 and 2024 to support the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings Project. These placements have provided opportunities to get involved with different aspects of the project, from customer service to exhibition design, topics as diverse as the participants themselves.
More Than Just a Placement: Katy-Jayne’s Story
Katy applied for a placement role which supported the project by improving the accessibility of their online resources. Her motivations for joining the project were both professional and academic as she aims to become a freelance accessibility consultant and was interested in researching the site for her MA thesis on accessibility.
While on placement in June 2023, she learned about digital access tools and made significant improvements to the project’s e-learning materials to make them accessible to people with a variety of access needs. An example of these changes is highlighted in the images below.
Before:
- Poor text contrast with white text overlain on image.
- Poor descriptive text for the image and incomplete source reference.
After:
- Improved text contrast with white text on dark colour.
- Improved descriptive text for the image and proper referencing.
- Improved alt-text for images.
Katy’s work widened the project’s audience by improving the accessibility of educational material on the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings. Thanks to her, these resources and others can now be used and enjoyed by a more diverse group of people.
This placement has given me a great introduction to the world of digital accessibility and some solid foundations to build upon in my journey towards becoming an access consultant.
What three words would you use to describe your placement at the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings?
"Innovative"
Thanks to her placement with Historic England, Katy was able to meet her goal of expanding her knowledge of digital accessibility. This involved learning to use a variety of innovative digital access tools and gaining experience that will stay with her throughout her career.
"Potential"
Katy not only realised the capacity for the heritage sector to be more inclusive and accessible, but she also realised her own potential to help make this possible in her future career.
"Fascinating"
Katy’s interest in the placement was personal as well as professional. Having grown up with connections to Shrewsbury through her father, and having trained for a time at the nearby RAF Shawbury, she had the special experience of discovering a potential familial link to the fascinating history of the site.
After finding out the Flaxmill was a military barracks during WWII, she realised that her own grandfather may have been stationed there, adding a unique personal layer to her experience on placement.
I think, overall, the connections I have made at this work placement and the amazing support all of the staff involved have given has been exceptional.
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