Abstract. Besides the globally popular MOOCs, localized MOOCs specific to a region or language are also emerging. These specialized MOOCs often aim to address specific needs that are typically unaddressed by the global MOOCs. Such example is Almooc that aims to address the needs of the Albanian-speaking persons who lack English proficiency. Despite the MOOCs adage to include and offer education to all people, research has shown that their interface is not accessible to people with disabilities, such as the blind. To evaluate the level of accessibility of Almooc, in this paper we report findings from three different methods: usability testing, automatic accessibility checking, and heuristic evaluation. The results indicate that Almooc is not currently accessible to blind people, however, we present recommendations to easily overcome the discovered issues.

Studies have shown that distributed pair programming improves student performance and retention in online computer science (CS) courses. However, as online CS courses become more commonly offered in computer science and Informatics departments around the country, it is imperative that distributed pair programming becomes as effective as when performed in co-located spaces such as computer labs. The present study identifies a disparity in student attitudes towards pair programming in co-located versus online environments. This study identifies several qualitative measures that can impact the pedagogical advantages of pair programming when implemented into an existing online computer science curriculum. This on-going study focuses on the online Informatics curriculum at Indiana University Bloomington and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Begun in Spring 2009, the research focuses on student experiences and perceptions of pair programming, and utilizes both quantitative and qualitative assessment methods. In order to improve the effectiveness of distributed pair programming, it is crucial to properly assess teaching and learning practices that will improve student engagement and motivation in distributed pair programming exercises. Student experience surveys, using a modified Likert scale, demonstrate that student-centered perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of pair programming differs significantly between co-located and online activities. This paper identifies several key areas where there is a noticeable variance between co-located and online pair programming experiences, and argues that addressing and improving these key areas will be vital for the successful implementation and sustainability of distributed pair programming efforts.

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Drug interactions are an important source of medical error and a topic of particular interest to patient audiences. Patients must be informed to be able to participate in decision-making affecting their health. This paper explores the availability of drug interaction checkers in Scandinavia and the prevalence and characteristics of usability issues preventing patients from benefiting from them. Drug interaction checkers were sampled and evaluated through heuristic evaluations. Issue-based data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, as well as single-case and cross-case qualitative analyses. The findings were interpreted side-by-side using a mixed-methods approach. The results showed a multitude of usability issues. Catastrophic issues indicating the safety of dangerous drug pairings were found in two of the checkers. Results also showed that the checkers lacked adaptive design, patient-oriented content, and adherence to basic design principles. A positive correlation was observed between system complexity and number of usability issues. We suggest that this comes from a lack of systematic design approach. The market for Scandinavian drug interaction checkers was as such characterized by a limited selection of checkers known to be used by patients for their utility, but failing to accommodate them in terms of system quality.

Massive volumes of information shared on the web together with linked open data initiatives and exabytes of data generated through social networks frequently disorientates and confuses web users in their everyday interaction. Additionally, web users constitute a highly heterogeneous entities with different needs and requirements. Considering this, user adaptive software systems have been developed as a new application approach to ease the interaction between users and web information with the intent to bridge the gap between such presentation and navigational pitfalls. The user adaptive interaction is especially useful when considering a marginalized group such as blind and visually impaired users. This paper attempts at providing an overview of a state-of-the-art survey concerning adaptive interaction between users and web information space with special emphasis on exploiting methods and techniques for adaptive web accessibility for blind and visually impaired people. Likewise, the exploration of possibilities of new methods and techniques for user adapted interaction for blind and visually impaired is highly required in order to alleviate the accessibility according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Recent studies indicate that even when the guidelines are implemented on web information systems, there is little indication that people with disabilities will gain better accessibility. To address these issues, we introduce various visual and auditory approaches to extend such adaptive methods and techniques for blind and visually impaired.