Embedding accessibility and usability: considerations for e-learning research and development projects

This paper makes the case that if e‐learning research and development projects are to be successfully adopted in real‐world teaching and learning contexts, then they must effectively address accessibility and usability issues; and that these need to be integrated throughout the project. As such, accessibility and usability issues need to be made explicit in project documentation, along with allocation of appropriate resources and time. We argue that accessibility and usability are intrinsically inter‐linked. An integrated accessibility and usability evaluation methodology that we have developed is presented and discussed. The paper draws on a series of mini‐case studies from e‐learning projects undertaken over the past 10 years at the Open University

Sonification of numerical data for education

Sonification is the use of non-speech audio to convey information. In this article, sonifications are representations of plots aimed at improving the accessibility of teaching materials. The electronic nature of sonifications means that they can be deployed to students via teaching interfaces such as virtual learning environments. We describe a two-phase study that explores sonifications of plots as a teaching tool in the context of distance learning in STEM. The overall objective of these two phases was to begin to assess the suitability of audio versions of graphs as a teaching tool for non-sighted and sighted students. In the first phase the effectiveness of sonifications within a small group of participants who took part in activities like those encountered in a distance learning setting was explored. We found that even though sonifications were new to them, participants were able to use them to gain impressions of the corresponding plots. The second phase deployed sonifications to all students on an Open University (OU) module. Although many of the students who chose to respond did so negatively, some found the sonifications an interesting augmentation of the plot. Overall, we demonstrate that for a subset of students, information in a plot can be communicated using sonifications

Embedding and Sustaining Inclusive Practice to Support Disabled Students in Online and Blended Learning.

UK higher education data has shown persistent differences in degree outcomes for specific student groups. Consequently, the Office for Students (the UK government’s higher education regulator) are funding 17 projects to address these inequalities. Building on its expertise, our institution is leading the IncSTEM project alongside colleagues from two other universities, to evaluate, scale up and promote inclusive teaching and learning practice within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in higher education. There are challenges with inclusive distance learning, many of which are emphasised in STEM through the prevalence of practical and field activities, the widespread use of groupwork, and the use of text that is rich in symbolic notation. Online and blended learning approaches, including access to digital learning resources, bring opportunities for more inclusive practice, but can also lead to unforeseen and unquantified barriers for students. Integrating an inclusive approach to teaching and learning requires universities to embed and sustain practices that consider the diverse needs of students throughout curriculum design and delivery, bringing benefits to all students. In this paper, we present data on staff perceptions and practices regarding accessibility and inclusion for disabled students, explore examples of inclusive practice, and discuss how these can be applied by practitioners in order to create a higher education environment in which students of all backgrounds and characteristics are able to succeed

"Dreaming in colour’: disabled higher education students’ perspectives on improving design practices that would enable them to benefit from their use of technologies"

The focus of this paper is the design of technology products and services for disabled students in higher education. It analyses the perspectives of disabled students studying in the US, the UK, Germany, Israel and Canada, regarding their experiences of using technologies to support their learning. The students shared how the functionality of the technologies supported them to study and enabled them to achieve their academic potential. Despite these positive outcomes, the students also reported difficulties associated with: i) the design of the technologies, ii) a lack of technology know-how and iii) a lack of social capital. When identifying potential solutions to these difficulties the disabled students imagined both preferable and possible futures where faculty, higher education institutions, researchers and technology companies are challenged to push the boundaries of their current design practices

Non-visual Access to the World Wide Web: Investigations of Design Guidelines and Haptic Interfaces.

This thesis investigates two different approaches to improving access to the Web for visually impaired people: the design of Web content; and the presentation of content. The potential for improving the design of Web content was investigated in an evaluation of the usability of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the Web Accessibility Initiative. Student Web page authors used the Guidelines to adapt Web pages containing various elements (such as images and tables). These pages were collated into a Web site, which was evaluated by visually impaired people. The page authors found it difficult to find the information they required in the Guidelines document, and had difficulties with implementing the advice of the guidelines. The visually impaired people who evaluated the pages found that the extent of the accessibility of the different elements varied depending on the individual’s experience of using the Web, and the software they used. The accessibility of some elements was not improved by the implementation of the guidelines. The potential for improving the presentation of Web content was investigated using a haptic device. The perception of virtual textures and objects by blind and sighted people via this device was examined. It was found that the virtual textures were perceived differently to the real textures examined in the literature, and that the blind people could better discriminate between the textures than the sighted people could. The virtual objects were explored from the inside and from the outside. It was found that objects generally felt larger from the inside than from the outside. This has been termed the ‘Tardis’ effect. The thesis concludes that it is difficult to define what we mean by ‘accessibility’. Without a clear definition it is not possible to judge whether a Web site is ‘truly’ accessible. The difficulties in making Web content fully accessible mean that additional methods are required for presenting the content in different ways. The researcher believes that haptic devices offer one such method, and could be particularly useful in presenting information that is visual in nature, such as information laid out in columns

Using remote laboratories to extend access to science and engineering

This paper will describe an approach to the provision of laboratory experience using communications and control technology. This approach provides the possibility of extending access to laboratory work for students who are unable to attend a conventional laboratory for a variety of reasons, such as disability, caring responsibilities, or part-time study. A remote experimentation system is under development for students to conduct a range of experiments in science and engineering education. It will be seen that laboratory work is an important aspect of learning in these disciplines, although there are constraints on its provision, including the specific barriers facing people with disabilities. The PEARL project seeks to overcome many of the existing constraints. The paper presents the design for the system and its specific features, and discusses its use in an educational context. In order to illustrate how PEARL will support people with disabilities, this paper also presents an overview of the assistive technologies currently in use

Initial requirements of deaf students for video: lessons learned from an evaluation of a digital video application

This paper reports the findings from an observational study of a digital video library system, DiVA, involving deaf students and students with other medical conditions affecting their use of video material. The Digital Video Applications (DiVA) system supports searching for and playing educational videos, and displays transcripts of the audio track alongside the video. Seven disabled students were observed while they watched nine video clips and then interviewed on their opinions of the system. The study is set within a context of an increasing focus on access to educational technology for disabled students motivated by recent changes in disability discrimination law. The findings of this study confirm the recommendations of existing guidelines that video material should be subtitled for deaf students, and that subtitles should conform to existing standards. It is acknowledged that subtitles may not be available on legacy video material and that transcripts may be a feasible alternative. This paper makes recommendations for the display of transcripts in digital video applications such as DiVA. It also emphasizes that disabled students have a range of different, and sometimes conflicting, needs and therefore the presence and display of subtitles or transcripts should be offered as options rather than by default

Evaluation of guidelines for designing accessible Web content

Position paper for the IFIP TC13 INTERACT'99 Workshop: Making Designers Aware of Existing Guidelines for Accessibility (31 August 1999)This study evaluates the Web Content Accessibility (WCA) guidelines, developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The first aim of this study was to investigate whether the Guidelines can be used effectively by Web page authors. To this end students of HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) used the Guidelines to adapt Web pages. The second aim of the study was to examine whether pages developed using the Guidelines are accessible to visually impaired people. In order to achieve this visually impaired Web users assessed the accessibility of the pages developed by the Web page authors. The study found some difficulties in the use of the Guidelines that were similar to those identified by previous research. There were unexpected results regarding the accessbility of certain HTML elementsPeer reviewe