You are here: Home » Technology And Inclusion

Technology and Inclusion

Technology offers a wide range of benefits for teaching and learning. Digital formats allow users to personalise the way they access content, making the aim of "access for all" much more achievable.

Usability & Accessibility

Usability in the context of online learning materials (web pages, Moodle pages, audio, video etc) refers to the ease with which people can use them, and find relevant information quickly. Usability is descriptive of the quality of a website: the more a website is designed to allow user to access its content in different way, to suit different styles, the more it will have universal appeal. Clarity and ease of use are paramount principles for any successful design, not only for the purpose of providing access to disabled users.
Accessibility in the context of online learning materials refers particularly to design qualities that make online resources available to all, i.e. without creating unnecessary barriers however a user accesses it. For example, computers should be functional without a mouse, textual information on web pages should be readable by screen readers, and in fonts whose size and colours are adjustable.

The good news is that the move to online resources has generally increased accessibility, since they are in a more flexible format.

Moral Duty

"Access for all" means that cognitive or physical impairments are no hindrance in accessing information. Learning materials in particular should be created so as to enable universal access. This is not only a legal requirement, but above all a moral one. As an HEI we have a duty of care towards all students and staff. It makes good practical sense, too: websites designed with access for all in mind provide greater flexibility and meet a greater variety of needs of different users, regardless of impairment.

Duty to anticipate

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001(SENDA) and the earlier Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)* laid out that responsible bodies (HEIs) should anticipate the requirements of disabled people or students and the adjustments they could be making for them, including all elements of course delivery.

*SENDA continues to apply though it has mostly been replaced by the 2010 Equality Act.

Guidelines

Use simple presentation and language
Use given headings instead of formatting your own headings. This allows screen readers to jump from section to section
Provide meaningful text in your hypertext links
Remember to add alternative text to images and other media
Where possible, consider providing information as HTML or Moodle pages rather than Word documents
Avoid specifying ("locking") font colour and size, i.e. allow students to view text in a font they prefer.

Moodle

Is Moodle accessible?

Moodle is a very complex environment and though it strives towards universal accessibility, full compliance has not as yet been achieved. The JISC TechDis article on Moodle accessibility summarises key issues. For more information, see also the Moodle Accessibility page on moodle.org.

You can do a lot by making sure you think about what kinds of materials you present to your students.

Any further questions, contact clt-support@lse.ac.uk

Assistive Technologies

IT accessibility at the LSE: IT Services provide information for disabled students and staff on how to access their services.

They also provide support in using assistive technologies. For more information email ITS.Disabilities.Support@lse.ac.uk

Accessibility event:
recordings available

The "Accessibility: Make your teaching accessible and inclusive" event was recorded. If you missed the event you can access the recordings and presentations.

The event was organised by CLT in collaboration with DWS & ITS.