Accessibility – Challenges and Opportunities in Education Sector

Over decades legal requirements have been established to promote and enhance digital accessibility. What is more, the public institutions, in particular higher education, are expected to provide accessible digital content to break down any social barriers. According to Karl Groves “an accessible website means a high-quality website (…) that makes it as easy as possible for the greatest number of people.”1 This is why, in a higher education context, it is possible to say that the educators who design online courses should focus on supporting those who suffer from some vision, hearing, mobile or cognitive impairments. But, in terms of web-based training or online training, are the legal regulations implemented in the educational contexts? A key point is that in the 21st century accessible education should not be perceived as a challenge for those who are responsible for digital content needs but as a foundation on which digital content should be created to engage both the students and educators in the teaching-learning process.In a higher education context, some evidence suggests that universal design is treated as a good practice enabling people with disabilities to take part in the process of education. However, taking into account university curricula it is still difficult to find departments or specializations that include practical programs implementing the accessibility issue into training of educators or trainers. These people are responsible for preparing well-designed educational material such as elearning platforms, visual presentations or interactive courses.This Special Thematic Session invites contributions on all aspects of the accessibility that covers Challenges and Opportunities in Education Sector. This is why, it would be a great idea to share your opinions on:

  • creating a well-designed training,
  • making power point presentations more accessible,
  • improving the transfer of knowledge so as to design effective curricula for would-be educators and trainers,
  • inspiring teachers how to implement positive change and good practices;

1) Kevin Gumienny „The Training Manager`s Guide to Accessible Elearning” available on https://www.microassist.com/learning-dispatch/training-managers-guide-to...


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