1. Accessibility
One of the benefits of teaching and learning online is that "the playing field is leveled". In other words, as an instructor, you do not see your students and can therefore have no preconceived idea of what your student looks like, what race he/she is (sometimes you do not even know whether the student is a "he" or a "she"), and you do not know if your student has any limitations.
The Internet is a wonderful tool. With it, you can literally reach (and teach) anywhere in the world. However, approximately 20 percent of the population has some sort of disability which could preclude a person from accessing all of the materials in a course. Individuals with disabilities that prevents them from utilizing a particular sense or ability, often an Assistive Technology (AT) to provide them with the functionality or an alternative functionality so that they can adjust. In regards to digital content, AT is used to translate information from one medium to another in order to provide a means for individuals to navigate and interact with the content.
Some information is obviously difficult if not impossible for people with certain disabilities to access without AT. This is where AT comes in and creates an alternative format of the information that can be accessed via a different sensory system. Those with sight disabilities cannot read text or view videos and graphics. For those individuals who are blind or who have low vision, visually-oriented information can be converted into audio and/or tactile information. Those with hearing disabilities cannot listen to audio files so verbal information can be delivered as text, charts, tables, and illustrations. Others with physical disabilities may not be able to use a mouse so alternatives, such as designing a web site to be navigated using the tab key on a keyboard, must be employed.
Many people, especially those in industry and education, are driven by technology standards. There is appeal and clout in being able to say that you are "508 compliant Links to an external site.". What it means to be accessible is not static and, at the launch of this course, the new standard to aim for is WCAG 2.0 AA Links to an external site.. How does a DEC ensure accessibility? Software does exist that can review websites for accessibility, but the abilities of such programs are limited. Notably, they generally involve a review of one page at a time - not optimal when reviewing an entire course. W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium, provides a "Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List Links to an external site.". WebAIM Links to an external site. (Web Accessibility in Mind) offers a variety of resources, including its own tool for checking accessibility, WAVE Links to an external site. (web accessibility evaluation tool). A new and exciting approach to accessibility in distance education is the development of tools that exist within the course management system and not only check for accessibility, but address or provided suggestions for addressing identified issues. See Ally Links to an external site.or The Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool (UDOIT) Links to an external site. for more information. Links to an external site.
Section 508 (of the Federal Rehabilitation Act) is the only instance in US law in which Web accessibility is explicitly defined. Using the existing Section 508 standards Links to an external site. is a minimum a good-faith effort to comply with requirements for Web accessibility. The standards were intended to be an absolute minimum standard for Web accessibility and applied only to government entities. Section 504 Links to an external site. expanded the application to include any agency that received government funding (all public schools).
By law, an instructor must ensure that his/her course materials are available and accessible to all students. When working with Web-based materials, an instructor must include alternative text ("alt tags") in the HTML code so that screen readers, such as JAWS Links to an external site., can identify all materials on the Web site. Screen reader software uses a speech synthesizer and a computer’s sound card to read aloud information from a screen.