Accessibility in Technology-Enhanced Curricula: A Comparative Study in Portugal, Turkey, and Lithuania

Abstract

While using technology to enhance teaching and learning, it is essential to make sure that none of the learners is excluded. Therefore, curriculum design should be done in such a way that it should not be left to students to adapt. This chapter focuses on the legal prerequisites officially applied in each researched country. According to the survey on the EU law on accessibility, the constitutions of Lithuania and Portugal foresee the availability of education for all citizens. Also, the currently available constitution in Turkey recognizes accessibility to education. Recently, the European Accessibility Act covered accessibility matters of products and services and requires legal adaptation in all the member countries, which lays a sound background for accessibility implementation in education. The current study analyzes the curricula of the translation courses of the Translation and Interpreting Department of Samsun University in Turkey, the Language Sciences Department of Lisbon University in Portugal, and the Institute of Humanities of Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania by checking how the four main principles of digital accessibility (perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust) are observed in the existing curricula. The analysis identifies the need for practical recommendations in the analyzed curricula on how teaching and assessment methods could be applied to ensure fair and equal possibilities and observing the four key digital accessibility principles in the study process. The practical points should serve as a key factor for improving and creating curricula for technology-enhanced teaching and learning in translation studies.