VLEs, CBA and Disabled Students

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VLEs, CBA and Disabled Students

• Dr Simon Ball
• JISC TechDis Service
• Email Helpdesk_at_techdis.ac.uk
• Web www.techdis.ac.uk

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Accessibility and Usability

• Accessibility can be easily and conveniently
  approached, entered, and used by people with
  disabilities (US National Parks)
• Design-For-All can be easily and conveniently
  approached, entered, and used by everybody,
  thereby rendering accessibility redundant (in an
  ideal world)

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What questions should we be asking about
accessibility?

• What does accessibility mean?
• equality or equivalence?
• What are the design issues?
• for all or for special cases
• Does new technology have a role?
• enabler or new barrier?

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VLE Accessibility

• 1 - Corporate Commitments
• 2 - User Testing

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VLE vendors

• Blackboard
• WebCT
• COSE
• Fretwell Downing LE
• Teknical
• LearnWise
• BT Solstra (who?)

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Questions asked

• Accessibility policy?
• Statement/commitment?
• Adherence to guidelines?
• Individual responsibility?
• Advice to users?
• Future plans?

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Findings

• Significant differences between US and UK
  companies
• Section 508 legislation
• Initial reluctance (and suspicion?) from UK
  companies
• Some progress eventually

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Blackboard

• Has an accessibility policy statement
• Has a named contact in company
• Extensive accessibility information on Bb site
• Actively pursuing adherence to W3C guidelines
• Increasing accessibility in future releases

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COSE

• No accessibility policy statement
• No named contact
• No accessibility information on site
• Willing to prepare statement when confident they
  have an accessible product

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Fretwell Downing LE

• Has an accessibility policy statement
• No named contact general contact available
• Willing to provide advice on accessibility for
  users
• Working towards meeting W3C guidelines

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LearnWise

• Has an accessibility policy statement
• No named contact
• No advice on website
• Provide advice on accessibility via helpline
• Product features adaptable interface and
  text-to-speech engine

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Teknical

• No accessibility policy statement
• No named contact
• Statement from Chief Exec
• a very large proportion of our RD spend is
  targeted towards compliance with both current and
  developing standards and legislation, which
  support improved accessibility
• See Teknical web site for more information

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WebCT

• Has an accessibility policy statement
• Has a named contact in company
• Extensive accessibility information on site
• Actively pursuing adherence to W3C guidelines
• Increasing accessibility in future releases

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Why are US companies better than UK companies?

• Altruism? Culture?
• Legislation section 508
• Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers
  in information technology, to make available new
  opportunities for people with disabilities, and
  to encourage development of technologies that
  will help achieve these goals. The law applies to
  all Federal agencies when they develop, procure,
  maintain, or use electronic and information
  technology. Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. 794d),
  agencies must give disabled employees and members
  of the public access to information that is
  comparable to the access available to others.
• (www.section508.gov)

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Good practice Blackboard

• Advice guidance to users
• Screen reader tutorial
• Projects
• Related links
• FAQs
• www.blackboard.com

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Good practice WebCT

• Section 508 info
• Accessibility policies
• Guidance for designers and authors
• FAQs
• Resources
• Utilities
• www.webct.com

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Useful links

• http//www.techdis.ac.uk/resources/VLE001.html
• http//www.webaim.org
• http//www.section508.gov
• http//www.w3.org
• http//www.rit.edu/easi/
• Making your Bb module accessible, by Carol Doyle
  of UWIC
• http//www.uwic.ac.uk/ltsu/5min_guide_module_acces
  sible.htm
• Developing inclusive online courses in WebCT, by
  Pearson Koppi
• http//www.webcontentaccessibility.org/webct/pears
  on.pdf

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User testing project

• Commissioned by TechDis and carried out by RNCB
  Hereford
• Aim to increase understanding of how to make a
  VLE accessible to disabled students
• Two parts
• Qualitative
• Quantitative

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Assistive technology used

• Two different screen readers
• JAWS 3.7
• Supernova 5.02 (inc magnification)
• See TechDis database for 2,500 assistive
  technology products

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Qualitative Study

• Transitional skills programme
• Electronic Soap Group
• Focus on discussion board
• Learners 16-19 with good IT skills
• Two questionnaires Initial Final
• Additional evidence video, observation notes,
  screen shots discussion board

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Qualitative Study Participants
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Qualitative Study Findings
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Qualitative Study Quotes

• In an ordinary group discussion, I cant always
  hear what others are saying and I dont always
  like to ask them to repeat what they have said.
  With a VLE I dont miss anything.
• I love this discussion boardit presents a
  challengeIf I am angry, how do I convey this?I
  cant wait to read other peoples views
• I like using computers, face to face is OK but
  it can become boring over a long period of time.
  I also feel that I can express myself more freely
  in a forum.

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Quantitative Study

• Seven users new to VLEs
• Set of five tasks
• Accessing content
• Reading posting messages to discussion
• Creating simple home page
• Answering on-line quiz
• Uploading sending an assignment

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Quantitative Study

• Each learner followed same scheme of work, lesson
  plans etc.
• Six one hour sessions, each one covering a
  different feature with tasks
• Learners timed and filmed carrying out tasks
• Initial questionnaire and satisfaction survey

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Quantitative Study Participants
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Quantitative Study Findings

• Defining terms
• Doing task performing, which may include reading
  instructions, messaging, uploading, thinking
  learning
• Using involves navigating around the VLE
  moving between pages and around pages
• Accessing getting to the information. For this
  study, this involves using the assistive
  technology. For non-AT users then time spent
  viewing the page and looking where to go next
  would be accessing.

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Quantitative Study Satisfaction
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Quantitative Study Accessing, Using Doing
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Quantitative Study Findings

• Learners using no AT spent 2 or 3 times more time
  Doing than AT users
• Screen reader users spent as much time Using and
  Accessing as Doing
• AT users needed more prompting

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Navigational issues

• AT users had difficulty navigating VLE
  effectively and efficiently
• Level 2/3 navigational skills needed to get the
  best from virtual learning
• See report for more details

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Key issues recommendations

• VLEs are complex and high levels of navigational
  skill are needed
• VLEs not intuitive for AT users
• AT users need significantly more time to complete
  tasks
• Individual induction, assessment of skills
  timely support are essential

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Reports

• Available on TechDis web site
• www.techdis.ac.uk/resources/VLE001.html
• www.techdis.ac.uk/resources/VLE002.html

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Related studies reports

• Doyle (2001) guidelines on how to make modules
  more accessible in Bb
• Pearson Koppi (2001) evaluation of, and
  guidelines for, WebCT
• Coyne Neilsen (2001) Beyond ALT Text
• TechDis report (2002) VLE accessibility

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Policy Equality or Equivalence? 1

• All students who declare special needs are
  considered as individual cases. Assessment and
  examination needs are discussed personally and in
  confidence
• All special examination / assessment
  arrangements should be agreed well in advance, no
  later than the end of module choice week.
• Your examinations will take place on the same
  time and date as the other students on your
  course, but will normally be in a different
  room.

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Policy Equality or Equivalence? 2

• The student should complete the Request for
  Variation of Assessment Methods pro-forma with
  assistance from the Disability Support Officer
  and attach the appropriate documentation
  (including evidence from an independent
  professional), and submit this to the home School
  Office. The office will sign to show that the
  information has been received, and one copy of
  the form will be returned to the student.

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Policy Equality or Equivalence? 3

• Consider the following words
• prove
• evidence
• notify
• special
• separate
• interview
• How many apply to ALL students?

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CBA - Advantages

• Adjust response times for learners with differing
  needs
• Drag-and-drop or gap fill benefit learners with
  limited dexterity
• Online assessment aids those with mobility
  difficulties, illnesses or mental health issues

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CBA - Disadvantages

• Some packages not accessible / adaptable
• Drag-and-drop often inaccessible to blind users
• Remember assistive technology does not
  necessarily level the playing field
• Check software with a screen reader, with images
  turned off, without sound, with larger font size,
  without the mouse and so on

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Alternative Assessment

• When an assessment cannot be made accessible to a
  particular student, an alternative needs to be
  created
• It is good practice anyway to have a range of
  assessment types within a course
• Warn students well in advance what is expected of
  them so problems can be foreseen

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Alternative Assessment

• What will policy allow?
• Will the same learning outcomes be assessed in
  each alternative?
• What are the implications for marking?
• Is the learner confident with the alternatives on
  offer?

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TechDis CBA Resource

• General resources for CBA www.techdis.ac.uk/cba/
• FAQs and discussion of issues
• www.techdis.ac.uk/cba/forum.html
• Email for contributions to question and answer
  board
• cba_at_techdis.ac.uk