Accessibility SIG Meeting 4th June 2007

Back to Previous Accessibility SIG Meetings.

Accessibility and Beyond: Re-energising and Re-focusing

Introduction
This CETIS-TechDis Accessibility SIG Meeting was held on Monday 4th June, 2007 at TechDis, York.

In conjunction with TechDis, the meeting took the form of a discussion meeting, where both the TechDis and CETIS services tried to ascertain the community's views on accessibility and e-learning, areas where the community felt more (funded) work needed to be done, and how the community felt the SIG should move forward. The meeting therefore had the following aims:


 * to find out where there are gaps in accessibility requirements;
 * to ascertain in what areas future (funded) work is required;
 * to discover in what projects the community should be involved;
 * a chance for the community to say what they felt TechDis and the SIG should be doing;
 * to discuss whether areas such as UID (Universal Instructional Design), inclusion, and/or personalisation should be part of TechDis' and/or the SIG's remit;
 * to understand why the IMS Accessibility Specifications (now ISO Standards) aren't being implemented;
 * to address support issues surrounding Brian Kelly and Lawrie Phipp's paper on Holistic Accessibility (what practical steps could be taken to implement this approach).

Back to Top of Page

Discussion Session 1: Funding and Future Work - Presentation, Discussion Questions and Feedback
Introduction to the Session - Sharon Perry, JISC CETIS. In what areas do we need to undertake accessibility work? Is funding required? Where from? What for? In what projects should TechDis, the Accessibility SIG and the community be involved? What about Web 2.0 and mobile technologies?

===Discussion Session 2: TechDis' and the Accessibility SIG's Remit - Presentation, Discussion Questions and Feedback=== Introduction to the Session - Sharon Perry, JISC CETIS and Simon Ball, TechDis. What do you feel TechDis and the SIG should be doing? Should areas such as UID (Universal Instructional Design), inclusion, and/or personalisation be part of TechDis and/or the SIG's remit? Should the SIG act as a dissemination service or be more pro-active? Is the SIG still relevant? Should the SIG still be jointly badged with TechDis? Should it be part of TechDis?

The TechDis Accessibility Passport Notes - John Sewell, TechDis
The Accessibility Passport is a means of describing the efforts that have been made to make a particular learning object accessible (in a similar way to a kite mark) and shows that a developer has given some thought to accessibility. It also identifies the parts that aren't accessible.

The user can then open a link containing details of the Accessibility Passport for a particular learning resource, which will show what steps have been taken to make it accessible. This will enable the user and person working with user, e.g. teacher, support worker, parent, etc, to look at the learning materials and comment on how easy it was to use them. As well as containing information about the learning object and how it can be used, there will also be a section for the user to feedback on its effectiveness.

The Passport is a plain text document that travels with the software. It is not technical and the user doesn't need to be an expert in order to read it. It is just a carrier which is available to everyone. Copyright and other information could also be carried in the Passport. However, the intention is not to turn it into a badge but just to show that such information is available.

Becta and several other developers have made some Passports, which will be reviewed by TechDis to see what the preferred format should be.

TechDis will initially host a site which will hold the Accessibility Passport information, although developers may wish to host them on their own site, particularly if there confidentiality issues. There may also be a case for having private and public parts of the document. At the moment, it is only available via the internet as it needs to be live so that people can immediately feedback and comment, although such information could also be held in the "About" tab of a software application.

===Discussion Session 3: Specifications, Standards and the Holistic Approach - Presentation, Discussion Questions and Feedback=== Introduction to the Session - Sharon Perry, JISC CETIS and Simon Ball, TechDis. Why is take-up of the IMS Accessibility Specs so poor? Do we need any more specs/standards? How can the holistic approach be supported? Is a "mix and match" approach suitable? What about Web 2.0 applications and accessibility?

Back to Top of Page

Meeting Resources

 * Implementing A Holistic Approach To E-Learning Accessibility. Kelly, B., Phipps, L. and Howell, C. In: Cook, J. and Whitelock, D. (2005) Exploring the frontiers of e-learning: borders, outposts and migration; ALT-C 2005 12th International Conference Research Proceedings, ALT Oxford.

Back to Top of Page