ECDL-PD

1
e-Assessment Conference
Meeting Individual Needs

• Garry Cleere
• Head of Certification Programmes
• ECDL Foundation
• Dublin

2
ECDL - Computer Skills For Life
What is ECDL?

• The ECDL certifies that the holder has knowledge
  of the essential concepts of IT and is able to
  use a personal computer and common computer
  applications at a recognised level of competence.

• Test of practical skills and competencies
• ECDL is a recognised standard for computer
  literacy
• Single agreed vendor independent / generic
  syllabus
• International Support - computer societies,
  international bodies, governments
• Computer society ethos - CEPIS

3
ECDL Foundation
Overview

•  
• A not-for-profit global governing body of the
  worlds leading
• computer skills certification programme
•  
• Members - computer societies in Europe
•  
• Established in January 1997 by CEPIS (Council of
  European Professional Informatics Societies)
•  

4
ECDL Foundation
The Mission

• Help raise the general level of computer skills
  in society
• Establish a global benchmark for core computer
  skills competency and ICT knowledge
• Raise the level of ICT skills in the workplace
• Provide an essential qualification that allows
  all people to participate in the Information
  Society
• Be an inclusive programme, Open to everyone

5
?he ECDL-F Validation Process
Levels of Input

• CEPIS (250,000 IT Professionals)
• National Computing Societies
• Practicing Computing Professionals
• National Licensees
• Test Centres / Courseware Test Providers
• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
• Specialist Expert Groups
• ECDL Candidates

6
The ECDL Programme Map
Levels of Certification
7
Success Development
Community Snapshot

• 140 Countries
• 42 Languages
• gt 5,500,000 Candidates
• gt 20,000,000 Tests
• gt 20,000 Test Centres
• Multiple Products
• Entry Level
• Core V4.0
• Advanced
• Specialised

1 of EUROPEAN CITIZENS ARE ECDL CANDIDATES
(Eurobarometer)
8
ECDL Foundation
Background

• CDL Concept Finland, launched 1994
• ECDL Task Force established 1995
• Council of European Professional Informatics
  Societies (CEPIS)
• Pilot studies using the translated Finnish
  questions in 4 countries in early 1996
• The outcome of these pilots was to create an
  internationally agreed syllabus - version zero
• An international Working Group was set up to
  develop the syllabus, based on expert opinion and
  input from organisations- academic and business  
• ECDL Launch Sweden 1996
• ECDL Foundation - 1997 (10 European countries)

9
ECDL Background
Objectives 1995

• To raise the level of competence in computing for
  all European citizens
• To increase the productivity of all employees who
  need to use the computer in their work and to
  enable better returns from investments in
  Information Technology
• To ensure all computer users understand the Best
  Practices and advantages of using a computer

10
ECDL Foundation
ICT Literacy in Europe

• eEurope Action Plan 02 highlighted the need for
  Digital Literacy
• ESDIS Committee Oct 02 recommended that ECDL
  be accepted as a Europe-wide basic IT
  accreditation scheme
• High Level Task Force on Skills and Mobility
  objective
• that by 06 all 16 year olds in Member States
  will have acquire ICT skills
• European eLearning Summit May 02
• the EC should build on successful current
  initiatives (including ECDL) in order to develop
  and update core digital literacy competence
  (including higher order skills) for Europe

11
The Need
Measure and Mandate

• ICT Literacy is necessary for full participation
  in the Information Society
• ICT Literacy is necessary as a foundation to
  participate in eLearning
• ICT Literacy is the corner stone of Life Long
  Learning

12
ECDL for people with disabilities
Challenge

• ECDL as computer literacy "for all"
• Is this true ??
• What implications
• Influence on Syllabus definition
• Influence on testing
• Influence on Standards and Procedures

13
Context
Who does disability affect?
9.8 million people in the UK have a disability
under the DDA. The groups that have specific
Issues with web and intranet accessibility are

• Vision impairment
• Hearing impairment
• Motor difficulties
• Cognitive impairments and literacy

Many have more than one disability
David Baines Ability Net
14
The Future
Scale of the Issue

• At least one in four adults is either disabled or
  close to someone who is.
• Source extrapolated from 2000 UK Population
  Estimates, Office for National Statistics.
• There are over 6.9 million disabled people of
  working age in Great Britain. They account for a
  fifth of the working population. Of these, just
  3.3 million are in work (approximately12 of the
  workforce).
• Source Labour Force Survey using DDA
  definition of disability and
• Fewer than 8 of disabled people use wheelchairs.
  
• Source Extrapolation from ONS Report 1995 quoted
  in NHS Executive

15
The Future
Accessibility
Accessibility is about designing so as many
people as possible can access effectively and
easily, independent of who they are or how they
access
16
The Need
ECDL PD Project

• The basic philosophy of ECDL-PD is to keep the
  level of the certificate untouched. The focus is
  on better tools for training, teaching and
  learning and optimising the work environment
• Four target Groups
• Blind and visually impaired
• Deaf and hard of hearing
• Cognitive disabilities/ learning difficulties
• Mobility/physical disabilities

17
ECDL PD Project
(P1) Austrian Computer Society OCG (P2)
University of Linz (P3) MediaLT (P4) Berufsb
ildungswerk Paulinenpflege (P5) Asphi
Onlus (P6) bfi Steiermark (P7) ECDL
Foundation (P8) European Disability Forum
WP0 Management, Organisation WP1 Syllabus and
Questions WP2 Teaching and Learning
materials WP3 Accompanying Materials WP4 Centre
assessment WP5 Evaluation WP6 Information,
Dissemination campaign
T1 Blind and Visually impaired T2 Deaf and hard
of hearing T3 Cognitive disabilities T4 Physical
disabilities
18
Project Partners
19
ECDL PD deliverables
Project Deliverables

• Syllabus and Test evaluation
• Sample training materials target groups
• Information materials, check lists,
• Test Centre assessment
• Dissemination, awareness raising

20
Syllabus
Syllabus
For each target group each knowledge item of
Syllabus 4 will be analysed and where is a need
an additional information given
21
Launch of Syllabus Version 4.0
Syllabus Version 4.0
22
Training Materials
Speech/ Braille display
23
TELL-IT
Course Materials

• Multimedia, flexible and continuing training
  program for on-the-job training
• People with mobility and/or visual impairment
• Employment in the service provision sector and in
  helpdesk operations

24
TELL-IT
Course Materials

• For the Individual
• Enhancement of work opportunities, employability
  and professional satisfaction.
• For the training organisations
• Enhancement of quality of training, opportunity
  for new training services, customer satisfaction
  and a closer link to the relevant business sector
  needs.
• For the service providers
• Enhancement of their social profile by employing
  properly skilled and productive PSN.
• For society
• Enhancement of equal opportunities for the
  disadvantaged citizens and, through it, reduction
  in the required social funds for their support
  and rehabilitation.

25
Accessibility and ATES
Testing

• A special ATES is not desirable
• True in application systems could use the
  accessibility modes of the underlying software
• Questions must allow for all answers to be
  accepted
• The software must allow for pauses - stop and
  start the test
• The software must allow changing the time for
  tests, by the test supervisor

26
Questions for ATES providers
ATES Providers

• Does the ATES work with assistive technologies?
  (and if so - which ones ?)
• Where graphical / image components are part of
  the question items are alt labels applied in the
  item so that screen readers will work ?
• Are all the common short cut keys programmed in
  the ATES?
• Does tabbing functionality work in the ATES?
• Has an appropriate font style and sufficiently
  large size been used for question item stems in
  the tests?
• Is the language easy to understand?      

27
Awareness Raising
Academic Papers

• Papers
• Crete HCI - International Conference on Human -
  Computer Interaction
• Dublin AAATE - Assistive Technology shaping
  the future
• Linz ICCHP - International Conference on
  Computers Helping People with Special Needs
• Glasgow - International Conference on
  Information and IT Literacy
• Belfast CAL - CAL03 21st Century Learning
• USA
• International Society for Technology in
  Education
• www.iste.org

28
ECDL-F PD Working Group

• Co-ordinate the activities to ensure that
  ECDL/ICDL can accommodate people with
  disabilities
• Work with the Syllabus and QTB groups
• Ensure Characterisation Test Template (CTT)
  addresses issues for all methods of testing
• Ensure the Quality Assurance is maintained while
  accommodating the requirements
• Work with specific projects, for example the
  ECDL-PD Project group

29
The Future
Future Solutions

• Action to avoid discomfort
• Personal Needs and Computing
• Alternatives to standard keyboard and mouse
• Understanding accessibility options
• Inclusive systems

30
The Future
Magnification Software
31
The Future
Screen Readers
32
The Future
Motor Disability Tools
People with motor difficulties face challenges
when navigating and interacting with web pages.
Dexterity, fine motor and coordination
difficulties can make using a standard keyboard
or mouse difficult. Keyboard and mouse
alternatives or voice recognition can be used to
navigate and interact with web pages
33
The Future
Hand/Arm Adaptive technology
Alternative Pointing Devices
34
The Future
Alternative Keyboards
35
Committment

• ATES
• Courseware
• Disability Agencies
• ECDL-F PD Working Group
• - Meeting the Challenge of Computer Skills for
  All

36
Design for All

• Design for All is more than design for
  disability. It recognises the rights of all
  people to barrier-free environments, products,
  services and systems. People who actively work
  with Design for All know that the future will
  prove the wisdom of the decisions they are taking
  today.
• Extracted from
• http//www.design-for-all.ie/designforall.htm
• and
• http//www.design-for-all.info

37
Contact Details

• Garry Cleere
• Head of Certification Programmes
• ECDL Foundation
• garry.cleere_at_ecdl.com
• http//www.ecdl.com