Guidelines and specifications for accessible assessment

Are there any guidelines or specifications for making online assessment questions accessible?
Not yet. However, there are several guidelines and specifications, which, although not relating to assessment specifically, do provide recommendations on making online content accessible, therefore they can also be applied to online assessment.

A good starting point is the IMS Accessibility Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications, which provide an overview of all the considerations that need to be made when making e-learning content accessible. They cover a range of topics, such as text, audio, images, multimedia, synchronous and asynchronous communication, as well as a section (Section 9) dedicated to testing and assessment.

At a more detailed level, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) has a number of guidelines, of which the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are the de facto standard. Although these guidelines relate specifically to making web sites accessible, many of the recommendations are also equally valid for online content and assessment.

The W3C also has a number of specifications, which should also be used to ensure that both online content and assessment is accessible. They include:


 * CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Specification – CSS allows presentation (i.e. font, colour, etc) to be represented separately from content. Theoretically, students could then apply their own style sheets to the content according to their requirements and preferences. The specification also includes a section on aural style sheets, which enhance the way text is presented to screen readers.
 * HTML (HyperText Markup Language) Specification – This is the base specification for websites and web-based content. If implemented correctly, accessibility will be improved.
 * MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) Specification – MathML allows mathematical notation to be described by using XML (eXtensible Markup Language), which may possibly be accessible to certain assistive technologies. For further information on MathML and accessibility, see Making Mathematics Notation Accessible.

At present, the IMS QTI (Question and Test Interoperability) Specification does not include any specific accessibility elements, apart from the ALTMATERIAL element, which allows alternative materials to be rendered, i.e. materials in a different language or format.

Are there any guidelines or specifications for making assessment software accessible?
There are currently no specifications aimed solely at making assessment software accessible. However, there are several guidelines and specifications that can be used to help make any software development accessible.

A good starting point is the IMS Accessibility Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications, which provide an overview of all the considerations that need to be made when making e-learning software accessible. They cover a range of topics, such as interfaces and authoring tools. There is also a section dedicated to testing and assessment (Section 9).

There is also the IMS ACCLIP (Accessibility for Learner Information Package) Specification, which allows a student’s display preferences to be described and their preferred means of interacting with the software. For example, the type of assistive technology required, the way in which the student prefers to interact with the software (e.g. by pointer, onscreen keyboard, etc) and the content (e.g. whether alternatives to sound or graphics are required).

At a more detailed level, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) has a number of guidelines. Although they relate specifically to making web sites accessible, many of the recommendations are also equally valid for the development of assessment software. They include:


 * ATAG (Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines) – These guidelines cover the design of authoring tools for web content.
 * UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines) – User agents are software, such as browsers, multimedia players, and other programs, which access and display web content.
 * WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) – These guidelines describe how to make web sites accessible and may also be applied to making online assessment software accessible.
 * XAG (XML Accessibility Guidelines) – XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a specification in its own right, and these guidelines describe how XML-based applications should support accessibility.

The W3C also has a number of specifications, which should also be used to ensure that software is accessible as possible. They include:


 * CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Specification – CSS allows presentation (i.e. font, colour, etc) to be represented separately from content. Theoretically, students could then apply their own style sheets to the content according to their requirements and preferences. The specification also includes a section on aural style sheets, which enhance the way text is presented to screen readers.
 * HTML (HyperText Markup Language) Specification – This is the base specification for websites and web-based content. If implemented correctly, accessibility will be improved.
 * MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) Specification – MathML allows mathematical notation to be described by using XML, which may possibly be accessible to certain assistive technologies. For further information on MathML and accessibility, see Making Mathematics Notation Accessible.
 * SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) Specification – SMIL is an XML-based language for writing interactive multimedia presentations and includes timing and synchronization elements.

Is there any accessible assessment software?
Some VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) products – such as Blackboard and WebCT – may only have a limited amount of accessibility functionality. For further information, see Accessibility in Blackboard and WebCT Course Design and Accessibility.

QuestionMark Perception, for example, is one assessment tool, which developers have tried to make as accessible as possible. Although there are one or two issues regarding the accessibility of certain features, the University of Leeds has suggested workarounds on its web page entitled QuestionMark Perception and Accessibility.

(Please note that CETIS does not endorse the use of any particular product mentioned in this section. Products mentioned are for example purposes only).