Transcript AHG-Accessible-e-Learning-FINAL

Accessible
e-Learning:
Include all Learners
Tim Springer
[email protected]
About SSB BART Group
• Experience
• Accessibility Focus
• Solutions That Manage
Risk
• Real World Fixes
• Excellence at Scale
• Knowledge That Is Upto-Date, All the Time
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About SSB BART Group
• Fourteen hundred organizations
(1452)
• Fifteen hundred individual
accessibility best practices (1512)
• Twenty-three core technology
platforms (23)
• Twenty-two thousand audits
(22,408)
• One hundred twenty-one
thousand human validated
accessibility violations (121,290)
• Fifteen million accessibility
violations (15,331,444)
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Timothy Stephen Springer
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Founder of SSB Technologies, CEO
SSB BART Group
Fourteen years of experience in web
accessibility
Eighteen years of experience in web
development consulting
Consulted with hundreds
organizations on web accessibility
policies and practices
Principal architect of InFocus, AMP
and DCQL
BS CS Stanford, AI focus
Two month old child (second, boy) at
home – slept well for the first time
last night
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Agenda
• Introduction
– What is Accessibility?
– What is e-Learning?
– E-Learning Delivery
• The Accessible e-Learning Framework
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Institutional Considerations
Pedagogal Considerations
Technological Considerations
Interface Design Considerations
Evaluation Considerations
Management Considerations
Resource Support
Ethical Considerations
• Summary
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Introduction
What is Accessibility?
Broadly: Usability by people with disabilities
Generally defined as a measure of comparative utility
– A web site or other software is accessible when people with
disabilities can use it effectively and for the same purpose(s) as
people without disabilities.
John Slatin - The Imagination Gap
– The ability for all users to enjoy the same level of access to and
interaction with e-Learning course content, features, instructors
and learners using readily available assistive technologies.
Joel Sanda - CSUN Conference Presentation
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Introduction
What is E-Learning?
E-Learning can be viewed as an innovative approach
for delivering well-designed, learner-centered,
interactive and facilitated learning environments to
anyone, anyplace, anytime by utilizing the attributes
and resources of various digital technologies along with
other forms of learning materials suited for open and
distributed learning environment. (Badrul Khan, 2005)
There are numerous names for e-Learning:
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Distance Learning (DL)
Online Learning (OL)
Web-Based Learning (WBL)
Web-Based Instruction (WBI)
Web-Based Training (WBT)
Internet-Based Training (IBT)
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Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL)
Distributed Learning (DL)
Mobile Learning (or m-Learning) or
Nomadic Learning, Remote Learning,
Off-site Learning, a-Learning (anytime,
anyplace, anywhere learning)
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Introduction
E-Learning and Delivery Format
• Common Delivery Environments
– In-class, instructor led
– Web-based, instructor led
(synchronous and asynchronous)
– Web-based, self-paced
• Common Self-paced e-Learning
Formats and/or Tool Outputs
– HTML
– Adobe Flash
– Documents
• MS Word, MS PowerPoint, PDF, etc.
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The Accessible
e-Learning Framework
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The Accessible e-Learning Framework
Accessible e-Learning Framework
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Insitutional Considerations
• What systems are covered?
– Courseware, LMS, Registration, Support, Public Site
• What technical standards do we conform to?
– WCAG 2.0 A and AA are the gold standard
– Different rolling requirements under AODA
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Are there exceptions to the policy and technical standards?
What assistive technologies will we support use in?
What are the effective dates and milestones for the policy?
What procurement changes need to be made?
What testing for accessibility is required?
What documentation on accessibility needs to be filed?
How do we monitor compliance?
How do individuals get more information on accessibility?
Where does the policy live?
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Pedagogical Considerations
• Ensure proper organization and breakdown of content
– Course Goals and Objectives clearly state what the participants will know or
be able to do at the end of the course
– The course is organized into units and lessons
– Each lesson includes a lesson overview, content and activities, assignments
and assessments to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to
master the content
• Note and address potential accessibility issues during storyboard creation
• Conduct accessibility check of storyboard content to detect potential
issues as early as possible
• Course instruction should engage students in activities that address a
variety of learning styles and preferences.
• Reduce or avoid the use of jargon, idioms, ambiguous humor and
acronyms to improve cross-cultural verbal communication and avoid
misunderstanding
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Technological Considerations
• Ensure infrastructure components provide and support
accessibility
– Support for WCAG 2.0 A and AA
– Ensure contracts provide a recourse for non-compliance
• Employ robust accessibility standards and best practices
throughout the courseware and development process
• Test, test, test and test some more
– Normative testing
– Assistive technology (AT) and user testing
• Select a courseware development environment that provides
accessibility in production content
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Interface Design Considerations
• Single most important area for accessibility
• Ensure the user interface of the application conforms to widely
recognized accessibility standards
– WCAG 2.0 A and AA
• Validate and test conformance to the standards throughout the
design and development process
• Develop requirements and design documents that include
accessibility considerations
• Use automated tools and conduct manual testing from prototypes
to final products
– Test, test, test and test some more (Redux)
• Recruit users with disabilities to perform acceptance testing
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Evaluation Considerations
• Ensure evaluation approaches support unique needs of
people with disabilities
• Ensure evaluations work properly with assistive technology
• Allow the student to take proctored exams at his/her own site
• Upon request, provide alternative test formats
• Allow students to take evaluations with extended time or no
time limit
• Provide a distraction-free environment for test taking
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Management Considerations
• Personnel
– Commit resources to hire staff to monitor and support
accessibility
– Develop internal accessibility expertise
– Provide an accessibility office that can sign off on issues
• Training
– Provide training for developers and content providers so they
are aware of accessibility issues before they design courseware
and content (Source: Mark Urban & Michael Burks - CSUN 2002 Conference)
– Provide in-service accessibility training and ongoing support for
all staff, trainers and instructors who must implement changes
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Resource Support
• Ensure secondary resources and services are provided in an
accessible fashion
• Access to primary information sources
• Access to supporting multimedia content along with text
• Ensure linked content is accessible
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Ethical Considerations
• The term “digital divide” has traditionally described
inequalities in access to computers and the Internet between
groups of people based on one or more social or cultural
identifiers (Source: Multicultural Education and the Digital Divide, by Paul C. Gorski)
• A notable shortcoming is that web-based education can
worsen the divide between those who have access to online
learning and those who do not (Source: Online Education Implementation
and Evaluation, by Shelley L. Balanko)
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Accessible
e-Learning:
Include all learners
Tim Springer
[email protected]