Improving Accessibility of e-Learning Templates for Students with Disabilities

*Peter Čakš, Monika Ferk, Matjaž Debevc, Julija Bele Lapuh and Ines Kožuh*

## **Abstract**

Because of the effective development of contemporary technologies, also during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, students with disabilities have been increasingly integrated into the society, work, and academic environment. Accordingly, the question of how to provide accessible graphical design of e-learning materials for various categories of students with disabilities and how to comply with international accessibility standards is becoming more and more prominent. The purpose of the study was to propose recommendations for the design of e-learning materials to achieve the preparation of effective study materials for students with hearing and visual loss, as well as autism spectrum disorders. According to their needs and requirements, recommendations for the graphic design of accessible e-learning materials have been designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated. The findings revealed a higher level of acceptance of adapted material for all experimental groups and can be helpful for teachers and other professionals educating students with disabilities.

**Keywords:** e-learning, students with disabilities, accessibility, user interface design

### **1. Introduction**

The spread of information and communication technology (ICT) in all parts of society and the increase of social awareness of the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the social, work, and pedagogical environment has enabled them to be more actively and effectively involved as equal actors in all areas of social activity [1].

Until recently, it was not a common practice for persons with disabilities (PWD) to publicly announce their forms of disability, but this has changed in recent years. For instance, in 2014, 27.1% of people in Europe declared having activity limitations [2]. Moreover, recent findings have revealed that over one billion people live with some form of disability [3]. Likewise, when students with disabilities (SWD) are in question, they are increasingly reporting on specific learning disabilities [4]. Over 10% of students have reported at least one special educational need (SEN), and over 5% have learning disabilities/disorders (LDs) (an overarching group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect the development of primary and/or secondary academic abilities) [5].

The growing recognition of needs and requirements has also led to the adaptation of the accessibility of various contents, which was also recognized by UNESCO [6]. Assistive technology (AT) is deemed as 'any product whose primary purpose is to maintain or improve an individual's functioning and independence and thereby promote their wellbeing' [7]. Its implementation has the potential to improve functioning, reduce activity limitations, promote social inclusion, and increase participation in education, the labour market and civic life for PWD [8]. To be even more specific, in the study on the impact of AT use for SWD in higher education (HE), the use of AT was substantiated to increase social interactions, provide opportunities for learning support, promote active engagement with peers in course-related discussions, promote engagement in clubs or groups, and encourage the creation of a social group of AT users [8]. Moreover, the gap between assistive and general use technologies in internet tools, software, and hardware has been overcome and has allowed SWD access to a wide range of technologies [9].

Speaking about the learning process for SWD and the use of AT, the concept of e-learning must be considered. The definition of e-learning has changed through the years. Once a new type of training, can nowadays be deemed a web-based learning system for dissemination of information, communication, and knowledge for education and training [10]. E-learning, as a concept, covers a wide range of applications, learning methods, processes, and tools [5] and can be seen as an appropriate tool for SWD. The categorization of e-learning for SWD can be divided into two major groups. The first group refers to the use of AT (hardware or software, used to increase, improve or maintain capabilities of students with disabilities aimed to support and/or increase learning) [11]. The second group of e-learning, which is in the focus of this chapter, refers to a system of procedures, processes, and instructional materials that support learning [5, 12].

Today, computer-based learning management systems are the most used learning systems [13]. The reason is in its very nature. As Moore et al. [14] highlighted, all forms of e-learning could provide learning opportunities for individuals, and the incorporation of technology in education has undoubtedly improved learning for SWD [15]. Therefore, advances in computer-based education are seen as an effective way of remedying this situation by providing assistance and compensation for SWD [16].

The number of SWD attending universities is increasing [17]. Regardless of this fact, many HE institutions do not pay attention to disability, so students continue to face various barriers [9]. These include inaccessible digital course materials and websites, lack of training on how to use needed AT, poor compatibility between software used by the HE institution and students' AT, libraries that do not stock accessible digital textbooks or coursepacks, professors who do not allow students with disabilities to use their mobile technologies in class; procurement of inaccessible HE technologies that will affect teaching and learning for years, the high cost of some AT, and restricted access to computer labs [1]. SWD often report that learning and studying with ICT and related e-learning can help them [18]. It is also generally accepted that through the ICT they can overcome barriers to more successful education [19]. It cannot be overlooked that during recent COVID-19 pandemics, e-learning has been increasingly used to support students' learning processes, especially for SWD [5, 12].

Despite rich guidance and methods for the appropriate design of e-learning materials, which should enable successful accessibility for all, regardless of the type of disability [20, 21], the question arises as to how good graphic design of e-learning is. Do materials also consider the requirements and needs of SWD? The question is

### *Improving Accessibility of e-Learning Templates for Students with Disabilities DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101931*

also whether there is an effective standardized e-learning course template for SWD. The final question that arises is how the graphic image or template of e-learning material affects the acceptance and effectiveness of the given content according to the type of disability of SWD. While general design guidelines are available [22, 23], there is, to our knowledge, a lack of studies and specific guidelines for the preparation of e-learning templates for SWD concerning different types of disabilities.

In the literature, the studies addressing the requirements of professors, disability service providers, post-secondary graduates, and assistive technologists prevail. At the same time, the problems of designing graphical user interfaces for SWD have still not been sufficiently covered [1]. In their systematic review of papers dealing with the impact of AT on educational and psychosocial outcomes for SWD in higher education, McNicholl et al. [8] found only one article dealing with autism and three with hearing impairments. A few studies have examined some dimensions of e-learning, for instance, learning mathematics [24] and distance learning during COVID-19 [5, 15, 25]. Likewise, Debevc [26] addressed the needs of students with hearing loss where the graphical image of the user interface for a website was developed. It provided the possibility of using a video sign language interpreter in the fixed and pop-up form on the website. However, in this study, there was no research on the acceptance and effectiveness of the user interface template and besides, it was designed for only one SWD category.

According to the literature, no specific standards and guidelines for graphical design of user interfaces for e-learning materials for SWD, in general, could be found, but only general rules for using additional utilities such as captions/subtitles, including an audio description of graphics, providing text-only versions and similar. These general guidelines are also set out in guidelines, such as the web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG), which are also linked to standards such as ETSI EN 301549 "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services" [27] and other accessibility standards [28].

In the present study, which was part of a larger European Erasmus+ project Trans2Work [29] on transferring students to work environment, we examined whether the graphical design of e-learning course templates affects the acceptance of the given content according to the type of disability of SWD. We focused on the three groups of SWD, which are (1) blind and partially sighted (B&VI), (2) deaf and hardof-hearing (D/HH), and (3) students with autism (only high functional autists with Asperger's syndrome – ASD). We designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated the effectiveness of our customized e-learning template. The study was conducted with the assistance of various national civil associations, NGO representatives, educational institutions, and medical institutions for PWD and SWD.

Based on the findings, we proposed an e-learning template to prepare appropriate e-learning materials adapted for individual types of disabilities in post-secondary education. The primary purpose was to identify the most suitable template for SWD, to design proposals of e-learning materials and to evaluate their efficiency.

## **2. Barriers and solutions in e-learning for students with disabilities**

When preparing e-learning materials for SWD, first and foremost materials should be made accessible. Cooper [30] and Khazanchi [31] point out that e-learning materials should be designed without additional barriers for SWD, and the path to

knowledge should be made easier for them. Every person, regardless of their disability, should have access to information through technology. Through the literature review, we first identified the problems that SWD encounter in the learning process and then sought appropriate solutions.
