I've just finished reading Chapter 1 and 2 of Seale, J. (2006) "E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education : Accessibility Research and Practice". Here are some observations :
Chapter 1 - Magic Fairies and Accessibility Dust talks about attitudes to accessibility and an ethos of buck-passing where responsibility when it comes to catering for the needs of disabled students. It seems that within institutions no-one seems particularly sure of who should be dealing with what, "[...] it can be very tempting to place all the responsibility for delivering accessible e-learning onto the shoulders of one person, usually the designer or developer." (p.1) Oh - that would be me then ;)
Chapter 2 - Disability and higher Education gives some good definitions of different models of disability, of which the social model seems to be that which is currently most favoured. "According to social models, impariment is an individual limitation while a disability is a socially imposed restriction." (P.12)
Interestingly, definitions of disability themselves can be exclusive in thier specifity e.g. conditions which are not long term (over twelve months) or do not fit neatly into a fixed set of categorisations may not be classed as an impariment. (P.14)
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