The following pages give answers to questions that the ILT / ICT Task Force from Royal College for the Blind (see Introduction) are asked in the course of their work . We hope you will find them a useful aid to supporting students with a visual impairment.
The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is a specialist college providing further education for visually impaired students. Students are aged 16 and upwards. Most are residential but there are some distance learners.
A Task Force was set up in September 2000 to research and develop information and learning technology/ information and communications technology (ILT/ICT) for blind and visually impaired students. This has involved the Task Force in the following:
It is this and other work which has enabled us to answer questions regarding e-learning and the issues for visually impaired students and students with other disabilities. Whilst e-learning may have the potential to enable students with disabilities to engage in learning on equal terms with other students there is still a long way to go. Even if the technological issues can be addressed there is still the issue of effective support to consider. We hope these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) go some way to addressing some of the practicalities.
If you have any queries about these FAQs please contact:
Shirley Evans,
email: se@rncb.ac.uk,
telephone: 01432 265725 extension 2236.
There are many and varied diseases which affect the eye and the likelihood of occurrence of an eye condition relates to a number of factors including age of the person, inheritance of genetic diseases or as a result of systemic disease.
The most common diseases of the elderly are macular degeneration and glaucoma, whilst diabetes, optic atrophy, macular degeneration and Retinitis Pigmentosa affect people from late teens to their 60's more. Younger children tend to suffer more from congenital and hereditary diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity, optic atrophy and congenital cataracts.
These are terms used to indicate whether a person after an ophthalmic examination is recommended on a BD8 form as eligible for Blind or Partially Sighted Registration by Social Services. It is important to note that a person may be registered blind and still have very good functional vision.
For the lay person functional problems are of most concern i.e. what effects will this condition have for the person with a visual impairment and how will they access written materials. These effects will differ from person to person and from condition to condition. Below is a list of some common difficulties and suggestions for adapting materials to provide accessibility:
The best recommendation is KISS - Keep It Simple Sam!
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Assistive technology is any item, piece of equipment, or product system, modified or customised, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Below are some examples:
Windows XP includes a Magnifier, Narrator, On-screen Keyboard, and Utility Manager which provide accessibility support.
Text size can be changed in several ways - the Magnifier will allow the user to set the level of magnification, set tracking options, set either inverted colours or use high contrast.
The onscreen keyboard provides limited functionality for mobility impaired users.
Narrator is a text to speech programme that can help visually impaired people to access most programmes on their computers. Most users with visual impairments will need a screen reader with higher functionality for daily use.
The Utility Manager will allow the user to manage the 3 options available - Magnifier, On-screen keyboard and Narrator - the manager can be launched from the keyboard using the Windows key + U - the user is able to maintain settings and specify which feature will launch automatically on start-up.
The Accessibility Wizard guides the user through the following options :
All changes will be saved for the user.
A screen reader is a software program that allows a blind person to read text on the screen and identify some graphics like buttons on a toolbar or icons on the Desktop. A person hears the information from a speech synthesiser or the computer's sound card.
A screen reader also allows a person to control the computer using the keyboard rather than the mouse. Many of the keyboard commands that a blind person uses are the same keyboard commands a sighted person can use on their PC. For example, open your File menu by pressing Alt-F. To close the File menu, press the Alt key again.
A blind person also uses special keyboard commands that were created by the screen reader. For example, most screen readers offer a keystroke to read the information in the title bar or in the status bar.
Some people use a refreshable Braille display rather than listening to the information. A Braille display is not like a computer screen. Usually, it is placed near or under the keyboard. The screen reader sends the information on the screen to the Braille display. Then, a person places his or her fingers on the display and reads the information in Braille as it appears. Braille displays are helpful to people who are deafblind and to people who work at jobs that require them to talk to customers on the phone.
Big Shot Magnifier - software specifically designed to help with eye strain, can magnify in fractions of magnification [for example, 1.5 times].
Visibility - turns a PC and scanner into an intelligent magnification and reading system. Any printed or handwritten material can be scanned and displayed at up to 32 times its original size.
ZoomText Extra Levels 1 [magnification] and 2 [screen reading] - magnifies up to 16 times and also includes cursor enhancements.
MAGic 6.x for Windows NT/2000 - does not currently have its own screen reading capabilities and therefore must be used with a screen reader such as WindowEyes.
Lunar Screen Magnification and Lunar Plus Enhanced Screen Enlarger software - includes speech output and is usable with a wide variety of Windows applications. Contains magnification up to 32 times.
Supernova - combines speech output, screen magnification and Braille support in one product. Magnifies up to 32 times.
Reader's Pal - free, easy to use software which displays text files and web pages in magnified fonts and high contrast colours. Also supports Text-to-Speech capabilities.
By listening to the information given by the screenreader. The Tab key is used to move from link to link and usually the Enter key to activate the link. Additionally some people may use the cursor keys to read and move around the pages - this will depend on the type of screenreader and the level of skill.
Yes - if they use magnification software - this allows the user to magnify the information on the screen and use the mouse to navigate as usual.
E-learning...
'Covers a wide set of applications and processes, such as Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of content via Internet, intranet/extranet, audio- and videotape, satellite broadcast, interactive TV, and CD-ROM.'
Quoted from Learning Circuits ![[External link: Open in new browser window]](../../pics/newwin.gif "[External link: Open in new browser window]"){kind=small}
(last accessed June 2002).
This is a good definition as it sees e-learning as more than just learning on a PC connected to the WWW. This may be particularly significant for students with a visual impairment.
E-learning is sometimes viewed as embracing more traditional methods of teaching too - again with its own set of implications for visually impaired students.
The Learning Circuits website also contains a very useful glossary on all aspects of e-learning.
'Usability focuses on making software, websites and on-line applications or services easy for people to use. Accessibility focuses on making them equally easy for everyone to use, including people who may use assistive technologies such as screen readers etc.'
Quoted from Frontend.com (last accessed June 2002).
It is important to remember that you can make something such as a drag and drop activity accessible with keystrokes but because it is a complicated procedure usability is reduced. As a result the effort required to actually use the learning materials may seriously impinge on the learning itself.
According to Nielsen (2001), it is 6 times more difficult for someone to use the Internet using a screen reader than using no assistive technology. Nielsen's study was carried out with people who had at least 3 years experience of using the assistive software and at least 3 months experience of using the Internet.
However, e-learning via the Internet may well enable the student to access more materials and work more independently than they could using traditional methods.
A student with a visual impairment may also need more time to complete assignments and may need more induction into using a VLE but, it is important to remember that each student will be different.
Always remember to ask the student directly if you are in any doubt.
Coyne, K., and Nielsen, J., (2001), Beyond ALT Text: Making the Web Easy to Use for Users with Disabilities, NN/g comreports/accessibility, http://www.nngroup.com/reports/accessibility/.
The following may be considered to be examples of e-content:
It is not too difficult to make traditional html web pages accessible but multimedia and interactive materials are more problematic (however work is being done in this area e.g. Macromedia are researching this issue and guidelines are to be written on standardised keystrokes).
The Techdis website sets out 7 precepts in respect of accessible websites:
These precepts are a useful starting point towards achieving accessibility. For more in-depth advice try the Demos accessibility guidelines for web designers which also contain examples and specific information about how the Demos website was developed.
There are a number of evaluation tools available and some are free of charge. There are also tools which evaluate pages in terms of accessibility and give advice on how to repair them.
Bobby is perhaps the most famous. The on-line version for testing single web pages is free but the downloadable version which has more functionality costs $99.
http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp
A-Prompt is freely available from the University of Toronto and has a facility to help repair pages.
http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/
There is no substitute though for testing with groups of end users. It is quite possible to create web pages which will satisfy the evaluation tools but are not accessible.
It is always best to include accessibility into your design and production process. Trying to make your materials accessible after the event can be costly and time consuming.
Also, recent introduction of legislation such as the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001 in the UK, means that educational institutions could face legal proceedings if they don't take into account the needs of disabled students. SENDA describes two main points that educational institutions should bear in mind:
This has implications for all aspects of e-learning. The legislation is also anticipatory so it may be no good saying that your materials are not accessible now but they will be next year.
For further updates and reports on how the legislation will effect producers of e-content try Techdis .
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In the context of these questions we are referring to an on-line learning environment. These will be web pages where students can engage in learning activities and/or interact with tutors and peers. There will be facilities that include 'controlled' delivery of materials, chat, discussion boards/conferencing, on-line assignments such as multiple choice tests, tracking and home pages etc.
Examples of these include:
This all depends on which student we are talking about. Let us assume that we mean a blind student using a screenreader. The student will need to be able to tab around all the links and read all the text using a screenreader.
Unfortunately our research has not yet given us in-depth experience of all VLEs available. However, our work so far has shown us that students are able to use Blackboard and WebCT reasonably well as long as they have a high level of IT skills.
Both Bodington Common and COSE are working towards accessibility and usability. We do not know whether the next version of Learnwise will be accessible and usable - although Learnwise say they are following accessibility guidelines.
TechDis have produced a report with further details .
These will vary from board to board, however problems encountered may include:
Multiple choice questions present a number of problems. If the student is using magnification then scrolling is a problem. A good solution is to have each question open up in a new window if at all possible. This is also highly advantageous for someone using a screen reader. It is very difficult to answer questions (check the radio button using the space bar) and then move on to another question on the same page. This may demand quite complex navigational strategies.
Uploading an assignment may also be problematic and quite difficult in some cases to do without any help.
Note also that there must be tolerance where students need to supply an exact word or phrase - most VLEs have no spell checker.
It is also important to remember that if there is a time limit then extra time might be required to complete the assignment. Remember the student may be getting no visual clues.
One of the main technical issues to resolve is how the content opens up - is it in a new window or actually inside the VLE? If an external web page is being accessed then it is useful for this to open up in a new window. If it opens up in the main frame of the VLE the display area will often be reduced considerably and if it is reformatted to be read by a screen reader then the new page and VLE will be reformatted together.
Remember that if multiple windows are opened the user can become confused. The student will have to remember that they are in a new window and there is always a chance that they will accidentally close down the VLE.
Even when users find a document easily, they may still discover that the content itself is inaccessible. If you have more of an involvement in the production of content further FAQs have been addressed. (See chapter on e-learning)
VLEs are becoming increasingly more complex. Additional features in even a fairly basic VLE will include a home page, a calendar, a notebook etc. Whilst some of the developers have addressed accessibility issues, usability issues are still an issue. It is always important to spend time with students looking at the functionality and the navigational features of a VLE and it may be even more important to do this if the student has a visual impairment.
Which are the best websites to find out more about how to support students with a visual impairment using learning technology?
This website is for an organisation that provides advice and brokerage for everything to do with technology, disability and education.
'TechDis is a Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded service supporting the further and higher education community in all aspects of technology and disabilities and/or learning difficulties.'
The site contains staff development tools and exercises, a database of assistive technology, a register of expertise, a knowledge database and various other resources.
According to their website, 'IMS Accessibility Guidelines are specifically targeted at the distributed learning community, and challenges that exist in an online education environment'
.
These guidelines are jam-packed with lots of useful information on disability, assistive technology, e-learning and lots of links to follow up. Highly recommended as a starting point.
http://www.imsproject.org/accessibility/
accwpv0p6/imsacc_wpv0p6.html
The WAI, in co-ordination with organisations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. The website is fairly comprehensive and includes the web accessibility guidelines. However, it may not be a good starting point as the information is quite technical.
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Last updated: 30 June 2002
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