Innovative and Easy: Strategies for including learners with Disabilities into Distance Education

Valerie Claire HavenUniversity of Massachusetts617-287-7425, voicemailValerie.haven@umb.edu, email

Learners with Disabilities: A New ParadigmView of disability is changing in the American educational systemLearners are engaging with their disabilities as part of their learning experiencePedagogy is shifting from the view of the level playing field to inclusive learning environmentsAssistive technologies arent keeping up with shifts in public educationTrend is moving toward complimentary end user-based technologiesAccessibility and Usability of L.M.S Platforms

Blackboard Academic Suite - fairly accessibleBlackboard Campus Edition - moderately accessibleBlackboard Vista marginally accessibleAll Blackboard L.M.S products require end user training with assistive technologyOverall usability of L.M.S platforms is lowATUTOR: An Accessible Open Source L.M.S

ATUTOR is a free Open Source Web-based e-learning environmentDesigned with accessibility and adaptability in mindDeveloped by the University of TorontoOffers complimentary accessible e-learning tools such as text-based chatwww.atutor.ca Screenshot of: ATUTOREmbedding Enhanced Access into Commercial L.M.S Platforms

Increase font size to 12 or 14 pointKeep text to average or short line lengthsAdd space between letters and lines or textUse visual icons sparinglyCreate some white space on page when possibleAdd headers to divide content when possibleScreenshot of Course Home PageEnhancing Accessibility of Course Content

Save PDFs and Power Point presentations in accessible formatsText is in a clear font and is in 12 or 14 pointAdd multi-media such as audio and self-paced videos to support learning contentUse simple languageDeveloping External Web Pages to enhance L.M.S accessibility

Uploading accessible content to a web page and hyper linking into a course shell

CSS Zen Garden Offers samples of web-page designed with cascading style sheets

www.csszengarden.com Screenshot of Zen GardenBrowse AloudBrowse Aloud makes a web site accessible to those with diverse disabilitiesLow vision, learning, and cognitive disabilitiesAlso supports learners with English as a second languageAllows end user to re-size text, change page colors, and convert text into MP3 filesThe reading software application is provided to the end user for freeWeb site owner pays for site activation with no changes to the serverwww.browsealoud.com Screenshot of Browse AloudText to Speech Software

Thunder free screen reader from England (www.screenreader.net)SATOGO free screen reader from U.S (www.satogo.com) Both applications are free to the end userSATOGO is loaded within a browser and released at the end of the sessionThunder requires installation to a local hard driveScreenshot of ThunderScreen Enlargement Software

One Format free text enlargement software (www.oneformat.com)

Preferences can be savedScreenshot of One FormatSynchronous Conferencing Tools

Hands-on Video Relay Service free web cam-based service for signers of American Sign Language or signed English (www.hovrs.com)Accessible Event-flash-based conferencing tool for users who are blind, deaf, or deaf-blind. Fee-based, but inexpensive (www.serotek.com) AChat-PHP is an access standards compliant Web-based synchronous communication tools for low vision, blind, and deaf users (www.atutor.ca/achat/index.php) Screenshot of Hands On VRSSoftware for those with Cognitive or Learning Disabilities

Wordle- free web based application converts text into mind maps (www.wordle.com)

Illustrates words in order of their frequency of occurrence within written text

Used for blogging, but has applications for educationScreenshot of WordleConclusionDevelopment of web-based complimentary tools is making American education more accessible to everyoneFree or inexpensive applications provide new options for lowering the learning curve for technologyTools designed for learners with disabilities can be used by students with diverse learning styles as wellE-learning opened the door to accessible education