The paper reports on the design and evaluation of a 10 credit module that has been designed and taught for the first to 35 full time Computer science and software engineering Masters student

Wald, Mike

English

Southampton (e-Prints Soton)

Design of a 10 Credit Masters Level Assistive Technologies and Universal Design Module Mike Wald A School of Electronics and Computer Science University of Southampton, United Kingdom  M.Wald@soton.ac.uk Abstract. The paper reports on the design and evaluation of a 10 credit module that has been designed and taught for the first to 35 full time Computer science and software engineering Masters students. 1  Introduction A 10 credit module has been designed and taught for the first time by the author to 35 full time Computer science and software engineering Masters students. The course was taught through eleven 45 minute sessions involving guest lecturers as well as theoretical and practical online tasks with course material made available online. 2  Course Syllabus and Structure The Aims of the module were: •  To  understand  the  role  of  Assistive  technologies  in  achieving  universal design  •  To explore the relationship between accessibility and usability  •  To  prepare  students  to  engage  in  research  and  development  in  assistive technologies and universal design   The  Learning  Outcomes  were  that  having  successfully  completed  the  module, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: •  Models of disability  •  Definitions of Assistive Technology and Universal Design  •  Relevant Legislation and Accessibility and Usability Standards  •  The interdisciplinary approach to design, research, evaluation  •  Assessment for assistive technology and universal design  •  Sources of information about Current research in assistive technology and universal design  and will be able to:  •  Analyse the relationship between accessibility and usability and justify a case regarding the extent universal design should depend on assistive technologies  •  Evaluate how your knowledge, skills and interests would be best applied in interdisciplinary  research  and  development  in  assistive  technologies  and universal design  •  Evaluate usability and accessibility of technologies  •  Identify  a  role  in  interdisciplinary  research,  development  and  design  of assistive technologies  •  Analyse, summarise and present up-to-date research publications  •  Communicate findings in a variety of modes   Topics Covered included: •  Case for universal design (Business, Legislation, Moral, self interest)  •  Models of disability  •  Ethical research issues  •  Assistive Technologies and Universal Design  •  Accessibility and Usability Standards  •  Assistive Technology Assessment and Evaluation  •  Involving users in research design and evaluation  •  Research in assistive technologies and universal design   Teaching  methods  included  lectures  to  present  concepts  and  theory;  Seminars  to explore  research  issues  and  workshops  and  supported  tasks  to  provide  practical experience. Learning activities included presenting analysis of current research issues in seminars, usability studies and accessibility evaluation in workshops and online tasks, directed reading of selected of articles on lecture topics, creation of accessible and usable website and online oral presentation. Feedback and student support during module  study  included:  Seminar  feedback,  Workshop  support,  feedback  on assignments, peer-review   The  relationship  between  the  teaching,  learning  and  assessment  methods  and  the planned learning outcomes was: •  Lectures present concepts and theory  •  Seminars explore research issues  •  Workshops facilitate usability and accessibility evaluations  •  The assessment provides an opportunity to demonstrate ability to evaluate and  create  a  usable  and  accessible  website  and  communicate  findings through a  website, in  writing and orally. Students can  work in groups or individually on the web site.  •  The students will be involved in the assessment of report, website and oral presentation 3  Course Resources Extensive  Course  Resources  (including  links  to  video  audio  recordings,  disability simulations, web sites, documents etc.) were categorised and organised and provided for students to carry out tasks out of class contact time. Books were also suggested as background Resources. 4  Methods of assessment Written report: (70% contribution to final module mark): Write a 2000 word report evaluating two software applications and two websites for accessibility and usability. Give examples of the assistive technologies that may be required for users to access them and any problems users may still have. Validate/check the XHTML and CSS and Accessibility status and browser compatibility and provide screen print outs as evidence. Detailed Criteria for report and % contribution to final module mark: •  Software accessibility evaluation 5% •  Software usability evaluation 5% •  Web site accessibility evaluation 5 % •  Web site designing to standards evaluation 5% •  Web site usability evaluation 5% •  Web site browser and operating system compatibility evaluation 5% •  Assistive technology description and analysis 25% •  Presentation of report and ability to communicate appropriately in writing 15% Website: (20% contribution to final module mark): Create an accessible website that presents a summary of the report’s findings. Validate/check the XHTML and CSS and Accessibility status and browser compatibility and provide evidence as part of the website. Students were asked also to rate each other’s websites and oral presentations by emailing marks out of ten to me and I revealed the favourite websites at the end of the  course.  Detailed  Criteria  for  website  design  and  implementation  and  % contribution to final module mark were: •  Web site accessibility demonstrated and tested    3% •  Designing to standards demonstrated and tested    3% •  Web site usability demonstrated and evaluated   3% •  Browser  and  Operating  System  compatibility  evaluated  and  demonstrated 3% •  Copyright & any legal & ethical issues addressed  2% •  Structure and Content and Design appropriate    6%  Online  Oral  presentation:  (10%  contribution  to  final  module  mark)  Create  a  3 minute accessible web-based oral presentation with visual aids presenting a summary of the report’s findings. Detailed Criteria for oral presentation and % contribution to final module mark: •  Presentation accessibility demonstrated and tested    4% •  Browser  and  Operating  System  compatibility  evaluated  and  demonstrated 3% •  Content and Design appropriate    3% 5   Online Discussions Students could send comments to the Asynchronous discussion board about the issues raised  in  a  range  of  out  of  class  tasks.  The  Module  tutor  responded  to  these  as appropriate. Examples include:  this series of video clips was a bit scary as I consider myself an able-bodied person  and  it  was  somewhat  disturbing  to  think  that  I  could  possibly  be among those who ostracize disabled people.  Yes, I felt the same.  I found the series of videos very powerful and it really brought it home just how people with disabilities must feel at times.  The video  was  very cleverly  made to help everyone understand how even just small comments which may seem harmless may affect other people.  Useful bit of information.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that some 10+ yrs ago I would have referred to someone as being retarded 6   Evaluations Students gave an average rating for the module of 4.5 out of 5 for the usefulness, clarity, interest, content, teaching and organisation. Comments were universally very positive  but  2  out  of  the  37  students  would  have  liked  some  more  direction  and structured  tasks  to  follow  rather  than  investigating  the  wide  range  of  resources provided. 7  Conclusion The able self-motivated Master’s level students found the module very useful and interesting and the majority enjoyed the flexibility of selecting from the wide range of resources and tasks provided.. 

Design of a 10 Credit Masters Level Assistive Technologies and Universal Design Module

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