Identify three issues that are of most relevance or of most interest to you. Write two or three paragraphs about each of these three issues, either as private notes or in your blog.
What are the formal and informal rules of accessibility?
Formal - External. The Disability Discrimination Act and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act have the most influence on the core business activity in a secondary education context. The W3C WAI WCAG also have relevance for the schools online content such as the website, intranet, extranet and online curriculum.
Formal - Internal. The schools Disability Policy and Social Inclusion Policy, which refer to the DDA and SENDA.
Informal. Online training materials for the production of content give guidelines on accessibility best practice.
How are the formal rules being regulated and enforced?
In an online learning sense they are not really being regulated and enforced due to limited availability of expertise (in terms of time and the number of skilled staff). In the wider whole school context disabled students and staff recieve equal opportunities during the application process and reasonable adjustments are made to ensure they can fully participate in the school community according to formal-internal policy made in line with the DDA and SENDA. I am not sure how or if this is regulated, but should be part of everyday practice.
What incentive is there for institutions to invest in the skills and knowledge required to make e-learning accessible?
According to Seale, the main incentive for aquiring accessibility is financial as it puts them ahead of thier competitors. Developing a reputation for inclusion and accessibility can be a major selling point into the niche market of disabled students, particularly in the business of distance learning. However, it would seem that some universities have chosen to compete for different markets such as international students, commercialisation or research grants.
Other motivating factors include avoiding bad press through reports which name and shame bad practice and avoiding legal action by disadvantaged students/staff.
In a secondary education context the financial incentive for accessibility is less of a factor than in HE as competition for students is less of an issue. This is discussed further in my previous post.
No comments:
Post a Comment