Students: Accessibility
Do any of the students have the following disabilities or impairments?
- Visual: blind, partially sighted, colour-blind
- Auditory: deaf or hard of hearing
- Speech
- Dyslexia
- Any general or specific learning difficulty
- Lack of manual dexterity
- Mobility problems
If yes, then you are required to ensure that materials, tasks and assessment outcomes are adapted to meet the specific needs of these students. For example, consider whether you need to:
- Ensure that the location is suitable for such students
- Allow some students more time to complete their work
- Ensure learning support staff are present
- Print handouts in large fonts and/or use coloured backgrounds in online materials
- Make students aware the supportive features embedded in existing tools, such as spelling checkers in word processors
- Ensure that assistive tools are available, such as:
- Inspiration® as an alternative to word processing
- TextHelp products to support students with literacy difficulties
- Joysticks instead of mice
- Special keyboards
You will find a comprehensive guide on building accessibility into your learning sessions on the TechDis website. Below is a selected list of resources on that Website (Note: clicking any of these links will take you away from this page):
- Online learning object on accessibility and inclusion in e-learning
- Accessibility "pyramid"
- TechDis? Database of assistive technologies
- Emptech Information on assistive technologies
- Guidelines on building accessible Websites
- Guide to producing accessible electronic documents
- Advice to users about how to access materials
An excellent database of assistive technologies been created by Emptech.
If you use online simulations with your students, you may also be interested in Accessibility awareness raising and continuing professional development: The use of simulations as a motivational tool, by George Papadopoulos and Elaine Pearson, in the January 2007 issue of the Alt Online Newsletter.
