Examination of the electronic educational resources accessibility on the university Moodle platform

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to assess the accessibility of electronic educational resources (EER) published in the university Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). The analysis involved 22 EERs in mathematical and information technology disciplines, located in the Moodle LMS of the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. The examination algorithm included analysis using the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE) and expert analysis of web accessibility using visual, auditory and manual methods based on 89 checklist attributes. In the result of the analysis, multiple accessibility errors of the Moodle platform and the EERs hosted on it were found. The most serious platform problems include: lack of compatibility with text browsers; errors of reproduction by screen readers; errors of content reproduction on mobile devices. The list of accessibility errors made by the authors of EERs includes: incorrect design of hyperlinks (22.7 % of the EERs); lack of subtitles (13.6 %), transcripts (22.7 %), synopses of video lectures (27.3 %); lack of alternative descriptions for figures (68.2 %); time limit for tests (9.1 %); lack of special markup for mathematical notation (36.4 %) and program code (13.6 %), etc. Results of the survey show need in training of EERs’ authors in technologies for developing accessible educational web content. It is advisable to familiarize web developers deploying an LMS at universities with the basics of web accessibility, LMS accessibility functions and modules in order to select the most suitable platform, determine and install the required set of accessibility tools. Before launching all EERs should be subject to mandatory examination for compliance with the web accessibility guidelines.

The Use of Tanjungpura University’s e-Learning-Moodle LMS during Online Learning: Problems, Solutions and Continuation

“…Meanwhile, respondent (R1) reported that the display on a laptop device was different from that on a smartphone so that at the beginning of learning process it was difficult for him to understand and navigate on Moodle LMS. (Kosova et al, 2021) reported an advantage of Moodle LMS especially regarding content reproduction errors on mobile devices.…”

“…In the use of Moodle LMS, several shortcomings were also reported such as lack of compatibility with text browsers, reproduction errors by screen readers, content reproduction errors on mobile devices (Kosova et al, 2021). The studies mentioned above, on average, used quantitative research as a research method, and therefore they provide space for quantitative research on the weaknesses of use of Moodle LMS in online learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic (Gamage et al, 2022) as in this study aims to examine using qualitative methods.…”