Accessibility of Distance Education: Evaluating the Impact of AT & UD Roger O. Smith, PhD, RESNA Fellow Aura Hirschman, MS, CRC Carly Golden, BS View: Presenter’s Options, Including Universal Access FeaturesPresenter’s Options, Including Universal Access Features Or: Begin PresentationBegin Presentation

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Workshop Overview I. R 2 D 2 Center & Existing Materials II. Practical Application & Examples III. Introduction to DETA & Goals IV. DETA Goal 7 V. DETA Tool Development VI. Next Steps VII. Feedback VIII. Wrap up 2

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, I. Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability ( R 2 D 2 ) Center 3 What lead to our participation in the DETA Project? 3 MODEL DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, I. R 2 D 2 Center Existing Materials 4 1.Project IMPACT – Strategies to integrate assistive technology into the post-secondary setting 2.ACCESS-ed – Universal Design in Education with resources for accessibility and measurement of accessibility, a website, and campus infusion strategies (DARCs) 3.UD ITEACH - Documenting accessibility barriers, diagnosing institutional needs, and Identifying accessibility and usability issues in existing and emerging educational technologies

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 5

II. Practical Application & Examples 6

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, II. LMS 7 A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the  administration  documentation  tracking  reporting  delivery of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) education courses or training programs (e.g. Moodle, D2L, Blackboard, etc.).

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, II. KEY ISSUES in the ACCESSIBILITY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION (DE) 8  Accessibility of the learning management system (tasks)  Accessibility of the actual course content (and delivery) (interventions)  Skill of the student in using (the technology and) their assistive technology (demographic)

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, II. Ten Simple Steps Toward Universal Design of Online Courses 9 1: Develop content first, then design. 2: Provide simple, consistent navigation. 3: Include an accommodation statement. 4: Choose CMS tools carefully. 5: Model and teach good discussion board etiquette. Project PACE -

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, II. Ten Simple Steps Toward Universal Design of Online Courses 6: Use color with care. 7: Provide accessible document formats. 8: Choose fonts carefully. 9: Convert PowerPoint™ to accessible HTML. 10: If it's auditory make it visual; if it is visual make it auditory. 10 Project PACE -

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, II. Examples in the Field 11 Students with alternative text accommodations  PDF text to speech (Bad PDF, Good PDF)  Students can convert their own text (using Read&Write Gold software) Blind students using JAWS  Use of updated software  Skill set

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, III. DETA: Determining Access in Distance Education “The National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancement (DETA) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, seeks to foster student access and success through evidence-based, cross-institutional online learning practices and technologies. Moreover, the DETA Research Center looks to identify and evaluate effective course and institutional practices in online learning, including competency-based education, specifically addressing underrepresented populations.” 12

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, III. DETA: Determining Access in Distance Education- Objectives 1.Understand and determine distance education outcomes 2.Identify practices (instructional and institutional) that impact those outcomes 3.Conduct rigorous, interdisciplinary, and standardized research to identify outcomes and influences on all students, including those with disabilities. 13

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, III.DETA Goals 14

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, IV. DETA Center- Goal 7 15

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, IV. DETA Center- Goal 7 “Goal 7, specifically, aims to create tools to prompt educators to incorporate and evaluate the level of accessibility components built into their designs and to develop the infrastructure to tease out, not only what works, but what works and what doesn’t, for students with disabilities.” 16

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, IV. DETA Center- Goal 7  Activity 1: Embed disability specific questions/data fields within research instrumentation  Activity 2: Create curricular disability accessibility assessment tools  Activity 3: Identify which interventions impact learning for which types of disabilities 17

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, V. DETA Tool Development  Developing taxonomies: 1. Demographics 2. Student Tasks 3. Accessibility Interventions (UD) 18

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 1. Demographics  Understanding the student background  What type of impairment/disability?  How severe is the impairment/disability?  What AT/other interventions are they implementing to manage their disability? 19

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Demographics- Minimal Data Set Excerpt  Visual Impairment  Hearing Impairment  Intellectual Impairment/Learning Disability  Psychological Disorder  Upper Extremity Impairment  Lower Extremity Impairment  Overall Body Impairment (e.g. fatigue/weakness)  Mobility Impairment  Language Impairment (expressive or receptive)  Sensory Impairment/Environmental Sensitivity  Behavioral Limitation  Blindness  Deafness  Technology & Modifications  Vision and Reading Aids  Auditory/speech output devices  Screen readers  Optical character recognition (OCR) systems  Screen magnifier/enlarger  Manual/electric page turners  Speaker phone  Audio textbooks

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Demographics- Scoring Scale  Scale: Application to myself  Question: This descriptor applies to me  Always (2)  Sometimes (1)  Does not apply (0)  Scale: Impairment level  Question: This impairment significantly affects me  Always (2)  Sometimes (1)  Does not affect me (0)  Scale: Level of modification  Question: I use this modification/assistive technology  Always (2)  Sometimes (1)  Never (0)

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 2. Student Tasks  Understanding what is required of a DE student in order to be successful  Required Course Activities  Course Management Skills  Tasks required for all students (not specific to a student with a disability) 22

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 2. Student Tasks- Minimal Data Set Excerpt  Course Activities  Types of instructional media delivery (direct & indirect)  Slideshows  Audio Files  Readings  Videos  Website links 23

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 2. Student Tasks- Scoring Scale  Scale: Level of requirement of activity  Question: In this course, this activity was required  Always (2)  Sometimes/electively (1)  Never/not used/not applicable (0) 24

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 3. Availability of Accessibility Interventions  Understanding UD interventions utilized in a course to make it more accessible for all students  Time interventions  Media interventions  Social interventions  Motor interventions 25

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, 3. Availability of Accessibility Interventions- Minimal Data Set Excerpt  Media  Visual media alternatives  Pictures, illustrations, photographs, diagrams, documents, and other static information  Readings and other static text information  Materials screen reader compatible  Font sizes alterable  Readings Optical Character Recognition (OCR) compatible  Textbooks provided in electronic format  Braille screen display/printer output compatible  Pictures, illustrations, and other static non-text information  Equivalent text descriptions (EqTD) provided for pictures, graphics 26

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Availability of Accessibility Interventions- Scoring Scale  Scale: Availability  Question: In this course, this intervention was available  Always (2)  Sometimes/only upon request (1)  Not available/do not know (0)  Not applicable (question not scored)  Scale: Usage  Question: In this course, this intervention was used  Always/consistently (2)  Sometimes (1)  Not used at all (0) 27

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, VI. Next Steps  Minimal Data Set taxonomies into scorable assessments- for students  Full taxonomies for thorough assessment tools  Accessibility and Universal Design Information Tool (AUDIT) development 28

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, VII. Feedback  Evaluate Minimal Data Sets  What’s missing?  What AUDITs need to be developed specifically for DE?  What direction does accessibility in DE research need to be going?  What tools should we develop to determine access in DE? 29

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Questions? 30

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Resources- Universal Course Design Equity and Excellence in Higher Education's Universal Course Design (UCD) Web site Universal Course Design Tutorials (Copyright, the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Equity and Excellence in Higher Education project is funded by the US Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (P333A050051). The contents of the website do not necessarily reflect the official position of the US Department of Education.) Making Online Teaching Accessible (2010) - Norman Coombs 31

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Acknowledgement The DETA Center and this work are supported in part by the U.S. Department of Education, grant number The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education and the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. 32

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, R 2 D 2 Center Contact Information  Web:   Voice: (414)  TTY: (414)

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Copyright  Presenters may choose to use these slides as a stand alone presentation or use all or a subset of the slides in another presentation.  Slides may be displayed and duplicated, as long as the copyright information and credit to the authors is maintained. 34

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Presenter Options: Including Universal Access Features  The “speaker notes” function in PowerPoint is used as a universal access feature.  The speaker notes contain long text descriptions of the graphics, because it was not feasible to do this with PowerPoint’s ALT text function to provide access for people with disabilities, including vision and cognitive impairments.  The notes can also be used to prepare a presenter for delivering the slides.  Where graphics repeat, the descriptions for graphics only describe what has changed from the previous slide.  Unfortunately, current versions of the free PowerPoint Viewer do not support “speaker notes.” 35

© 2012 Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R 2 D 2 ) Center, UW-Milwaukee, Presenter Options: Viewing Speaker Notes  Using the “Slide Show” view  In Windows, right click on the slide in use or use the context key to bring up the menu, and then select “speaker notes”  On a Mac, using Ctrl + Click on the slide and select “speakers notes” from the menu.  The notes can also be seen as a part of the “Normal” view or directly by using the “Notes Page” view.  When in “Normal” view, F6 can be used to switch between the slide, notes, and outline panes respectively. Go back to the opening presentation slide 36