Making E-Content Accessible Lawrie Phipps - TechDis Manager Shirley Evans – ICT/ILT Task Force

Introduction Defining e-content Legislation Accessibility Usability Content Activity Bringing it all together Taking it forward

What is E- Content? Learning objects eg. small, interoperable chunks of learning and interactive scenarios Video and audio eg. on-line lectures, digitised films Text on-line eg. web pages Links to external web pages Content generated through collaborative tools eg. In a discussion board Materials that are not electronic but associated with the E-learning process eg. printed materials

Legislation Special Educational Needs and Disability Act Is relevant to Higher and Further Education because it amends the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) 1995 The DDA now includes all aspects of an institutions work, from marketing and enrolment to examinations and assessment.

What does the legislation say Two key phrases in the legislation:...not to treat disabled students less favourably, without justification, for a reason which relates to their disability; and to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that people who are disabled are not put at a substantial disadvantage compared to people who are not disabled in accessing further, higher and Local Education Authority-secured education.

Case Study 1 Less favourable treatment A young woman who is deaf and also has a mobility difficulty attends a specialist residential college for deaf people. The college is organising an outing for the students one evening. The young woman has been told that she cannot go on the trip because it ‘would not be suitable’ for her because of her additional disability. She has been treated less favourably in comparison with the other students because of her mobility difficulties. This is likely to be unlawful.

Case Study 2: Less favourable treatment A student who is a wheelchair user is treated rudely by a member of computing service. The staff member is rude to everybody that day; his bad treatment of the disabled student is not related to the student’s disability. The disabled student has not been treated less favourably than other students.

Case Study 3: Reasonable adjustment A partially deaf student who lipreads is attending a Business Studies course. One of her lecturers continues to lecture while simultaneously writing on the whiteboard. The student asks him to stop speaking when he turns his back to use the whiteboard so that she can follow what he is saying. The student is likely to be at a substantial disadvantage if this adjustment is not made.

Case Study 4: Reasonable adjustment A student with restricted growth requests that all university student notice boards are lowered in height so that he can read the information more easily. He is, however, able to read the notices without significant difficulty or discomfort when the boards are placed at their regular height. The student’s disadvantage compared to that of other students is unlikely to be found substantial.

What does this mean for E-content It is likely that Institutions will have to: provide accessible educational services, such as Intranets, Virtual and Managed Learning Environments and other digital resources including student handbooks etc. JISC Senior Management Briefing Paper 15

Usability Usability focuses on making software, websites and on-line applications or services easy for people to use.

Accessibility Accessibility focuses on making them equally easy for everyone to use, including people who may use assistive technologies such as screen readers etc. Frontend.com

Content 1

Content 2 Video of student trying to access content In a VLE (Jaws and Blackboard)

Content 3 – NLN Materials

Content4 Trialling the National Learning Network Materials Lessons learned so far:- It is easy to make content physically accessible if it just a web page It is difficult to make content interactive and accessible It is difficult to make content cognitively accessible Universal accessibility means plug and play Equivalent access is not necessarily preferable to alternative access

Support Scenario Imagine the student in the video has enrolled as a distance e- learner with your institution. She has difficulty accessing and using the VLE and the content. A discussion board has been set up to co-ordinate support between the content developer, the learning technologist, the technician and her tutor. Using Post-It notes set up a ‘discussion board’ and highlight the main issues and how you are going to address them. 15 mins activity 10 mins feedback

Bringing it all together The Law Accessibility Usability Inclusivity Interoperability Support

What are you going to do? E-learning does have the potential to to enable students with particular needs to engage in independent, individualised and self-directed learning on equal terms with other students? What do you have to do? What are you going to do?