Online Courses

http://0-chronicle.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/article/Technology-Gives-Blind/125434/

This video gives an interesting perspective of a visually impaired student and how technology helps him daily.  Looks like he runs into the same computer glitches that we ran into for our online class


"As institutes of higher learning shift the delivery of courses from more traditional methods to asynchronous online methods, students with disabilities may be overlooked" (Edmonds, 2004, p. 51).  Edmonds (2004) explains that depending on the disability, full participation may be difficult.  For example a student who is blind may need to use an alternative text program where as a student who is deaf could benefit from captioned videos.

Positives
Having online accessible courses can be a tool that is easier to use not only for the student but also for the instructor   For example, students with a hearing impairment could use captioned videos and students with learning disabilities may be able to use texts where they have the ability to look for key words and phrases.  In addition to providing new services, online courses may also be more accessible.  Students with physical disabilities that may not be able to attend class can now take classes online because they are much more accessible   These same benefits couldn't help instructors with disabilities who may have a hard time physically going to class but can how teach over the internet.

Legal/Federal Consideration
At this time there is no low that requires higher education institutions to provide online classes (Edmonds, 2004).  However, I believe doing so would give a non-verbal message that they value the students that need to use these services to succeed.

Vocational Rehabilitation Act:
-(1973) requires that institutions with federal funding not exclude or discriminate against people with disabilities 
-(1998) federal departments of agencies must ensure, absent an undue burden, that the electronic information technology they acquire is accessible to individuals with disabilities who are federal employees or members of the public who are seeking information or services.

Americans with Disabilities Act:
-(1990) applies to services offered by both public and private institutions: prohibit institutions from discriminating against students with disabilities or excluding them from equal access to services. (What bothers me about this is that even if it is equal access... there are many more barriers that a student with disabilities may have to cross to receive the same services as someone who does not have a disability   When you make someone go through too many loops they give up)

Federal Section 508: This offer suggestions for tools to use when someone encounters various problems.
List of some tools:
-WAVE online accessibility tool
-MAGpie Media Access Generator
-Lynx Viewer
-Bobby validator.

Negatives:There is a primary concern on the accessibility of webpages because they are generally presented in HTML.  Many of the webpages of institutions of higher education are not running smoothly.  This proves as an extra hurdle for students that are blind because many webpages do no hate alternative text.

Online learning is still in the very beginnings of the process to be successful.  These problems became even more apparent when we had out online class and the technology was sub-par for students in a class that did not have students' with disabilities. I believe these advancements needs to become more of a priority so we can service the growing population of students with disabilities.


Edmonds, C.D. (2004).  Providing access to students with disabilities in online distance education: Legal and technical concerns for higher education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 18, 51-62.