Assessing Accessibility: Are Online Courses Better Than Face-to-Face Instruction At Providing Access to Course Content for Students with Disabilities?

Abstract

Delivering course material in a manner that is accessible to all students including those with disabilities is important in the online environment. This article presents an analysis focusing on the accessibility of six courses presented through the Webcourses platform. Six professors volunteered one course for analysis. The tool use for analyzing the courses was the WAVE tool bar. Analysis of course was completed individually, but results were reported across courses. Overall results indicated 13 types of challenges and of these 5 were the most prevalent across courses. The author discusses a brief history of distance education, the tool used for analysis, challenges that were identified within course and offers suggestion of how to minimize those challenges. Within the methodology, screen shots of the WAVE tool bar are provided. Visual analysis of the frequency of the 13 challenges is provided. Implications of the WAVE tool are shared with future research directions.

Variability, visuals, and interaction: online learning recommendations from social work students

“…While our findings cannot speak to the financial accessibility of e-learning courses because we did not assess financial barriers to learning, student did cite concerns with accessibility related to hearing, learning, or vision impairments in the e-learning platform. These concerns are consistent with prior research on e-learning (Massengale & Vasquez, 2016), and we recommend that educators include transcriptions of all audio content, be mindful of compatibility issues with certain types of software (e.g., certain web-based tools may not be compatible with screen readers for students with visual impairments) and work with their student accessibility departments to ensure best practices. In light of the current COVID pandemic, several organizations have released frameworks and informational guides for faculty on utilizing digital technologies (British Association of Social Workers, 2020)…”

“…A study on accessibility among six different online courses also found that while e-learning may theoretically provide more access to students with disabilities, there remains several challenges to accessibility for students with certain disabilities, such as content being incompatible with screen readers for students with visual impairments, usage of javascript requiring the use of a mouse, or difficulty selecting embedded links (Massengale & Vasquez, 2016).…”

Determining Academic Success in Students with Disabilities in Higher Education

“…Although students with disabilities in higher education may have approved accommodations, this does not mean that they have guaranteed access to these approved accommodations (Massengale & Vasquez, 2016). The institution themselves do not have to make adjustments if they would incur costs that would be a financial or administrative burden (USDoE, 2011).…”

Students' engagement characteristics predict success and completion of online courses

“…Higher education institutions are developing and offering online courses as part of their degree curriculums (Cohen & Soffer, 2015;Toven-Lindsey et al, 2015), providing access to a wide range of audiences, and improving teaching and learning processes (Macfadyen & Dawson, 2010;Roby et al, 2013). The considerations for developing online courses are broad and derived from efficiency, economic, organizational, pedagogical, and operational aspects (Bakia, Shear, Toyama, & Lasseter, 2012;Massengale & Vasquez, 2016).…”