Kevin Hickey Jisc RSC NW. 8th October 2014

Accessibility in the Online Learning Environment

Who am I and where can I get these slides?

Kevin HickeyJisc RSC NW@kevhickeyukkh@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

Slides available via:http://goo.gl/rfE2q2

Supporting Accessibility for Distance Learners

Why is it Important ?

What are the Barriers?

What are the solutions?

“We are the largest

provider of Higher

education for people with

disabilities :

More than 22,000 people

with disabilities studies

with us in 2012/13”.

Who said …?

Why might someone with a disability prefer distance learning?

Study at their own pace

Control of the environment

Fewer Barriers

What are the barriers to providing support to distance learners with disabilities?

Can’t provide technology

Unknown disabilities

Variety of technologies

How can we overcome these barriers and support distance learners with disabilities?

Inclusive content design

Remote support

Let learners know, what is freely available

http://www2.open.ac.uk/students/skillsforstudy/recording-your-notes.php

https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/ls/it-help/helpful-software/

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/fordisabledusers/technology/software.html

Packages of free support software

MyStudyBarhttp://eduapps.org/

Remote support

Access Toolshttps://access.ecs.soton.ac.uk/projects/access-tools

Any Questions?

Images used under Creative Commons Licence

‘Michelle at Cafe Mozart’ by larkspurlazuli via https://flic.kr/p/68puBc

‘School Of Open Workshop’ WMDE / Elly Köpf / CC BY-SA via http://creativecommons.org/tag/online-course