A user experience perspective on the challenges and opportunities for providing accessible online learning experiences. Presented at A11yBos 2014, 10th May.

1. Creating Accessible Online Learning
David Sloan @sloandr
Sarah Horton @gradualclearing
Copyright © 2014 The Paciello Group

2. What we plan to do
• Take a user experience (UX) perspective to
accessibility and online learning
• Current challenges
• Key aspects of a strategy for delivering
accessible online learning experiences

3. What we ask you to do
• Contribute your own experiences
• Ask us questions
• Share the session

4. Some assumptions
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

5. Online learning has substantial potential to make
education more accessible, including to people with
disabilities.

6. Optimizing the learning experience for people with
disabilities can lead to enhancements for other
learners.

7. There may be pedagogic justification to require certain
levels of sensory, motor and cognitive capability in
learners.
But educational organizations have an obligation not to
discriminate against learners or instructors with
disabilities.

8. Defining an accessible online
learning experience
Photo credit: Flickr user @mikecogh https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/7691519996/

9. The journey a learner with a disability takes
through a learning program, accessing and
interacting with learning
resources, communicating with the instructor
and their peers, and demonstrating the skills
and knowledge acquired.

10. Constraints
• Authoring tools and platforms
• Preserving educational validity
• Diversity in learner
background, location, engagement and learning
styles
• Instructor perspective on accessibility

11. Keystones of an accessible
online learning experience
Photo credit: Flickr user @53825985@N02 https://www.flickr.com/photos/53825985@N02/9075524312/

12. Navigation
• Learners can navigate through an online learning
system efficiently and effectively
– Regardless of input device used or assistive technology
• Key destinations are prominently identified
– Course material
– Grade books
– Discussion areas

13. Media accessibility
• Graphic and video content is accessible to
people who can’t see it
• Audio content is accessible to people who
can’t hear it or understand it
• Media can be controlled and manipulated by
people regardless of input device used

14. Forms
• Learners with disabilities can understand the
layout and functionality of forms such that
they can enter or select appropriate data for
each control
• Learners with disabilities can successfully
access feedback when submitting an answer

15. Communication
• Learners with disabilities can receive
notifications of essential messages
• Learners with disabilities can participate fully
in online discussions with their peers and
instructors

16. Personalization
• Learners with disabilities can independently
configure the display and behavior of a system
according to their needs
– Visual display
– Ordering of content
– Timing settings
• Configuration options are easy to find, easy to
change, and reliable

17. Assessment
• Learners with accessibility needs can make the
appropriate adaptations before taking a
summative test
• Tests focus on intended learning outcomes in
a fair way to learners with disabilities

18. Educational content creation
tools
Photo credit: Flickr user @tomswift:

19. Current learning platform support
• Accessibility support is inconsistent!
• Hadi Rangin and colleagues reviewed four
popular learning management systems and
found flaws in each
– In accessibility to learners and instructors
• MOOC platforms also have limitations

20. Content variability
• HTML
• PDF
• Video, audio, animation
• eBooks
• Embedded apps
• Social media

21. Tools need to support accessible authoring
• Tools that help instructors create:
– Static content
– Video and audio
– Interactive features – quizzes, tests
• Tools that help students navigate to and
interact with learning resources

22. Responsibility for online
learning accessibility
Photo Credit: Wellspring Community School https://flic.kr/p/7FMn8b

23. Vendors
• Eliminate or mitigate accessibility barriers present in
learning platforms and in educational material
• Focus on supporting accessible authoring
– Course authoring and management tools should be
accessible
– Learning resource authoring systems should optimize
accessibility

24. Learning technologists
• Research and document the nature of current problems
• Configure LMS and courseware tools to minimize output
of inaccessible content
• Train instructors to use tools with accessibility in mind;
and to focus on the learning experience holistically
• Include accessibility in procurement/selection criteria for
new systems, tools and resources

25. Instructors
• Use authoring tools with accessibility in mind
• Be creative in using multiple approaches to
help your learners achieve the same learning
objectives
• Monitor your learners’ performance for
potential accessibility problems

26. Learners
• Learn how to configure the learning platform
to make it work best for you
• Ask for learning resources in accessible format
• Report accessibility problems
• Communicate with your peers in an inclusive
way

27. Everyone
• Co-ordinate efforts to pressurize platform and
resource providers to raise their accessibility
game
• Be specific in what is needed and what
success looks like

28. The future
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

29. The future: a standards approach?
• IMS Access For All
• Standardizing:
– Accessibility in learner profiles
– Accessibility in learning and assessment resource descriptions
– How this information can work together to support customized
experiences
• Success relies on gathering and maintaining accurate
information

30. Delivering accessible online learning
experiences is a multi-
faceted, complex challenge requiring a
holistic approach – but one worth
taking.