We argue that while work to optimize the accessibility of the World Wide Web through the publication and dissemination of a range of guidelines is of great importance, there is also the need for a more holistic approach to maximizing the role of the Web in enabling disabled people to access information, services and experiences. The persistently disappointingly low levels of usability of Web content for disabled people indicates that focusing on the adoption of accessibility guidelines by content authors, tool developers and policy makers is not sufficient for a truly inclusive Web. This approach fails to acknowledge the role of the Web as an enabler in a broader context and may stifle creative use of Web content and experiences to enhance social inclusion.Using e-learning as an example, and describing current metadata developments, we present a framework that will guide Web authors and policy makers in addressing accessibility at a higher level, by defining the context in which a Web resource will be used and considering how best existing or new alternatives may be combined to enhance the accessibility of the information and services provided by the site in question. We demonstrate how guidelines such as those produced by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative have a role to play within this wider context, along with metadata and user profiling initiatives.

/pdf/contextual-web-accessibility-maximizing-the-benefit-of-14oogxsf6p.pdf

Contextual web accessibility - maximizing the benefit of accessibility guidelines

The “Anywhere, Anytime, Anyway” slogan is frequently associated to e-learning with the aim to emphasize the wide access offered by on-line education. Otherwise, learning materials are currently created to be used with a specific technology or configuration, leaving out from the virtual classroom students who have limited access capabilities and, in particular, students with special needs. On the contrary, accessibility of learning materials is a key issue to ensure a whole inclusion of people with disability in instructional process, and, consequently, to prevent risks of “digital exclusion”. The foremost explanation for the creation of not inclusive materials is the assumption that creating accessible and universal Learning Objects (LO) is a dismaying and lengthy task, partially supported by complicated ad-hoc tools. New simple mechanisms that drive authors in creating accessible LO are needed to enlarge LO audience; they should contemporary support students’ needs (while reading) and reduce authors’ efforts (while writing). In this paper we present a LO creation and management process, based on common personal productivity tools, which guarantees both content accessibility as well as universality and offers a simple and friendly interface to authors.

Automatically Producing Accessible Learning Objects.

Currently, the great majority of institutions of higher education use Learning Content Management Systems (LCMSs) and Learning Management Systems (LMS) as pedagogical tools. In order to make these systems accessible to all students, it is important to take into account not only educational standards, but also standards of accessibility. It is essential to have with procedures and well-established method for evaluating these tools, so in this paper we propose a method for evaluating the accessibility of LCMSs and LMS based on a consideration of particular accessibility standards and other technological and human aspects. The method application is for all LMS, in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the evaluation method, we present a case study over the widely-used LMS Moodle1. In the case study, the accessibility of Moodle is evaluated thoroughly from the point of view of visually-impaired persons. The results obtained from the case study demonstrate that this LMS is partially accessible. The evaluation shows that the tool provides poor support to the authors of accessible educational contents.

/pdf/higher-education-institutions-and-learning-management-2tybtad06o.pdf

Higher education institutions and learning management systems: adoption and standardization

The importance of accessibility to digital e-learning resources is widely acknowledged. The World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative has played a leading role in promoting the importance of accessibility and developing guidelines that can help when developing accessible web resources. The accessibility of e-learning resources provides additional challenges. While it is important to consider the technical and resource related aspects of e-learning when designing and developing resources for students with disabilities, there is a need to consider pedagogic and contextual issues as well. A holistic framework is therefore proposed and described, which in addition to accessibility issues takes into account learner needs, learning outcomes, local factors, infrastructure, usability and quality assurance. The practical application and implementation of this framework is discussed and illustrated through the use of examples and case studies. DOI: 10.1080/09687760500479860

/pdf/holistic-approaches-to-e-learning-accessibility-4vyt4xb2qr.pdf

Holistic approaches to e-learning accessibility

The evolution of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the rapid growth of the Internet have impelled the pervasive diffusion of e-Learning systems. This is a great opportunity for visually-disabled people provided that both the interactive environment, created by the Learning Management Systems, and the Learning Objects, created by teachers, are properly designed and delivered. In this paper we investigate interaction of the blind user with an open source Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle) and discuss how the use of the W3C Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) suite may improve the experience of navigation via screen reader.

/pdf/accessing-e-learning-systems-via-screen-reader-an-example-4ekzopvd9s.pdf

Accessing e-Learning Systems via Screen Reader: An Example

The importance of accessibility to digital e-learning resources is widely acknowledged. The W3C WAI has played a leading role in promoting the importance of accessibility and developing guidelines which can help when developing accessible Web resources. The accessibility of e-learning resources provides additional challenges. In this paper the authors describe a holistic framework for addressing e-learning accessibility which takes into account the usability of e-learning, pedagogic issues and student learning styles in addition to technical and resource issues and provide a case study which illustrates use of this holistic approach to e-learning.

/pdf/implementing-a-holistic-approach-to-e-learning-accessibility-4vkixzg29h.pdf

Implementing a Holistic Approach to E-Learning Accessibility

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Implementing a Holistic Approach to E-Learning Accessibility