Canadian E-Learning Conference June 17-20 2008

Designing Accessible eLearning for Persons with Disabilities

Presenters: Sandy McIntosh, Pattie Mascaro, Deanna Kiss, & Amanda Veinotte

Mount Royal College and NorQuest College are collaborating on a project funded partly by eCampus Alberta. Presenters are Amanda Veinotte and Sandy Gough at Mount Royal College, and Deanna Kiss and Sandy McIntosh at NorQuest College. Both institutions have expertise in supporting learners with disabilities, in the classroom, and in the design and delivery of web-based courseware.

Objectives:

• identify numerous popular and emerging social software technologies
• recognize how tools are becoming more individually focused; yet increasingly used to promote collaboration 
• embed social learning tools into their various environments and understand how they interact in a number of novel ways
• apply some social software mashup strategies to meet real learning & teaching goals

The goal of the project is to build resources for eCampus Alberta development teams that will assist them to provide seamless access to web-based courseware for all students. Traditionally, many learners with disabilities have been excluded from participating in web-based courses. Those who have been able to access web based courses have often relied on extensive supports from disability services providers. This project will develop a series of web-based, stand alone tutorials to inform the design of accessible eLearning that will meet the needs of diverse learners. The development model will be based on principles of universal instructional design allowing disabled learners to participate fully in web-based learning. An important component of the project is a needs analysis to determine the best design for the model and tutorials.

The tutorials will be available through the Internet and will inform instructional designers, instructors and course designers, media specialists and administrators in post secondary institutions.

The project began in the fall of 2007 and is scheduled to conclude in the summer of 2008. This presentation will present the projects’ objectives, progress to date, including challenges, and projected completion.

Deanna Kiss, project leader, is the Coordinator for the Center for Innovation and Development and a faculty member at NorQuest College in Edmonton Alberta, and a member of ADETA (Alberta Distance Education and Training Association).

Pattie Mascaro is an instructional designer in the Academic Development Centre at Mount Royal College in Calgary Alberta.

Sandy McIntosh is an Instructional Designer and a faculty member at NorQuest College, and a member of ADETA and the CRLA (College Reading and Learning Association).

Amanda Veinotte is a web developer and graphic designer in the Academic Development Centre at Mount Royal College and a member of ADETA.