"Rethinking Accessibility in E-learning: Toward Didactic Guidelines to Design Inclusive Activity". Contribution presented at ATEE 2013 Winter Conference, Genoa, 07 march, 2013.

1. RETHINKING
ACCESSIBILITY IN E-LEARNING:
TOWARD DIDACTIC GUIDELINES
TO DESIGN INCLUSIVE ACTIVITIES
Eleonora Guglielman
ATEE Winter Conference
Genoa, 07 march 2013

2. The emerging issues of the research
✲ 2 million 600 thousand persons with disabilities in Italy, 12,403
of whom enrolled at the University (2007-08, ISTAT and
Ministry of Education)
✲ Dramatically increase of the universities offering e-
learning/blended courses, with use of collaborative activities
(forum, chat, wiki, etc.).
✲ Access to technologies by people with disabilities is a priority
at European and national level ("Law Stanca", January 9, 2004,
n. 4)
✲ All students must have ensured "full access" to all study
activities, including online activities (Law 104/1992 on
disability, Law 17/99, specialized tutoring, Law 170/2010,
learning disabilities).

3. The meaning of accessibility
Definition: “the degree to which a product, device, service, or
environment is available to as many people as possible”
From the technological point of view the concept is declined mainly in three
areas:
Assistive Web and Learning
technologies software standards Management Systems

4. A bidimensional accessibility
Technological accessibility: access to HW and
SW – accessibility of websites, LMS, digital
contents.
It is defined by standards and parameters
Pedagogical accessibility:
✲ Access to contents and resources
✲ Access to interaction and collaboration tools (chat, forum, wiki)
✲ Access to activities: workshops, debates, collaborative works,
simulations
not still realized

5. A 3 levels model
Access to VLE Access to contents Access to activities
Login Read text Communicate
Visit the home page Convert files Interact
Surfing Download contents Collaborate
Read information Sharing knowledge
Building new meanings
Using web 2.0 tools
There are different levels of accessibility, each of which is a prerequisite
for subsequent
Time to rethink accessibility!

6. How to address the challenge?
The solution: guidelines for the design of e-learning
courses that are accessible both at a technological
and a methodological-didactic level
The target: Students with special educational needs
(deaf, blind, motor disabilities, learning disabilities)
The paradigm: Universal Design - Services and
environments must be designed so that they are
accessible and usable for all (in educational field:
Universal Instructional Design and Universal Design
for Learning)

7. The research phase
Survey with the Survey with experts Desk study
students
Case studies (5) Web survey (112) Online data (Istat, Miur,
Interview (9) University)
Tools: Tools: Quantitative data
Grids for observation, Questionnaire with closed
interview ended questions
Questionnaire with open
ended questions

8. The Guidelines
Are formulated taking as a reference model the existing guidelines for
the technological accessibility; are structured according to the macro-
phases of the design of an e-learning course in the following
framework
A. Pre-design B. Methodological design
A1. Course Organization B1. Didactic methods and strategies
A2. Users profile and identification of B2. Course planning
prerequisites
B3. Design and structuring of contents
B4. Activities and tools
B5. Didactic support

9. Structure of the Guidelines

10. Articulation of the guidelines
35 generic guidelines and 9 methodological guidelines for students with
learning disabilities
Each guideline including:
✲ Phase and macroarea
✲ Types of disability N O  &
✲ Indicator
✲ Methodological-didactic descriptors
✲ WACG 2.0 standard(s)
✲ References

11. Future trends
✲ Decline guidelines for specific
disabilities
✲ Test, validate, redesign guidelines in
online courses to their full adoption
✲ Make the course staff acquire
accessibility skills
✲ Contribute to the dissemination of
the culture of Universal Design
✲ A new professional role: the e-tutor
expert in accessibility

12. Thank you for your attention
www.guglielman.com