Teaching Accessibility in Computer Science and Related Disciplines

Abstract

Background: Imperatives for digital inclusion mean there is growing demand for graduates with the knowledge and skills to produce digital services that are accessible to disabled people and older populations. Accessibility is mandated by a body of laws that constitute digital disability rights, and internet use among disabled people is increasing (ONS, 2019). However, a lack of progress in the delivery of accessible mobile web-based services, tools and resources mean disabled and older people face persistent digital barriers. There is a pressing need to develop accessibility capacity in the digital workforce. To this end, this systematic literature review seeks to establish what is empirically known about the effective teaching and learning of digital accessibility through the lens of pedagogy.
 Methods/Design: The review will consider research (1999-2019) which focuses on the teaching and learning of digital accessibility in higher education and the workplace. The focus is on how pedagogy is enacted - the pedagogic practice of teaching - rather than curriculum development or other activities that relate to planning or governance. Two databases will be searched, using identified keywords. To identify further papers, backward- and forward- citation analysis is used. Researchers will work iteratively with the data, to ensure no loss of context through data extraction. A narrative synthesis of the findings will be presented.
 Discussion: The review will collate literature on the pedagogy of accessibility education, reporting on how the teaching or learning of digital accessibility is effectively undertaken. It will identify the empirical basis for accessibility pedagogy.

Inclusive Digitization and Digital Accessibility as a Professional Development Challenge for Prospective Teachers

“…Ungeklärt ist die Frage einer pädagogischen Kultur der inklusiven Digitalität (Lewthwaite, Coverdale, und Butler-Rees 2020;Lewthwaite und Sloan 2016). Damit sind Fragen des Kompetenzerwerbs und der Vermittlung von Wissen, Fertigkeiten und Fähigkeiten zu den Themen digitale Barrierefreiheit und inklusiver Digitalität gemeint.…”

Workplace approaches to teaching digital accessibility: establishing a common foundation of awareness and understanding

“…There is a growing literature on the teaching and learning of accessibility in higher education in computer science and other technical disciplines. However, reviews of the literature highlight that accessibility education research remains relatively limited respective to other areas of education and (for example) computer science education (see Lewthwaite and Sloan, 2016;Nishchyk and Chen, 2018;Baker et al, 2020;Lewthwaite et al, 2020). In part, this signals to the precarity of digital accessibility as a field of learning.…”