Meet
Jamie

Age 61

Area St Austell, Cornwall

Jamie is self-employed as an access consultant and is a Director for Enable Accessibility CIC in Cornwall.

With his new business ready for a modern website, Jamie wanted to learn how to create it himself. He came across the part-time Website Designer Skills Bootcamp from Digital Peninsula Network.

Jamie said, “I have a website in WordPress, and I didn’t really know how to use it properly and I thought this course was a great opportunity so I could get a better understanding [of WordPress].” He wanted to feel confident making changes as and when they were needed, instead of relying on a paid website developer.

Jamie has several hidden disabilities, including dyslexia and hearing loss. “I prefer hands-on [courses] and I struggle with videos that don’t have closed captions.” With assistive technology, he was able to take advantage of the online course and he appreciated being able to follow along with the tutors in real time.

As an accessibility consultant, it is important to Jamie that his website is accessible to all. He was able to share his knowledge of accessibility tools with his course mates and learned new techniques on the Skills Bootcamp, like the importance of alt text.

Digital Peninsula Network’s Website Development course was held one day a week for nine weeks. As Jamie works from home, he was able to fit the online course alongside his day-to-day work.

In just nine weeks, Jamie built his own website from scratch and is continuing to build on it to make it as accessible as possible for everyone to use. He said “I’ve just added a sticky top menu so that when you scroll down, the menu stays in the same place. Simple things like that makes it easier for people with access issues, as well as able bodied people!”

The cohort that Jamie was a part of was made up of a wide range of different businesses and abilities, some who had never worked on a website before and by the end of the nine weeks, they all had functioning websites to start promoting their businesses.

“Digital Peninsula Network are really supportive, if anybody was struggling they took them out to breakout rooms for one-to-one support. It was really well organised.”

“I learned a lot in the nine weeks and I’m still learning. I now have an accessible website, making it easier for people to understand what I do as an Access Consultant.”

Having built confidence in this new skill, Jamie has been able to cut costs for his consultancy and is enjoying being able to make changes quickly. Jamie did not let his hearing loss and dyslexia hold him back and his advice to anyone thinking of joining a Skills Bootcamp is to “Believe in yourself. Don’t let age or disability hold you back.”

Join the thousands supercharging their skills and find out more about the Skills Bootcamps available in Devon and Cornwall this year.