Towards an Accessible Learning Management System

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Towards an Accessible Learning Management System
Dorian Peters
CoCo Research CentreThe University of Sydney20
November 09
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The Project

• Web Engineering Group (WEG)
• Tristan Kalnins-Cole - Thesis
• CoCo Research Centre
• Dorian Peters - Co-supervisor

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CoCo . Centre for Research on Computer-supported
learning and Cognition

• Research
• E-learning, Collaborative learning, Multimedia
  learning, Design patterns for online learning
• Teaching
• Master of Learning Science and Technology, PhD
• More info
• http//coco.edfac.usyd.edu.au

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The problem

• Educational institutions legally/morally obliged
  to include students with disabilities
• LMS fail to meet accessibility requirements
• WebCT does not meet intl standards
• Blackboard does not meet intl standards
• This has been going on for a while

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The solution

• The do-it-yourself approach Make .LRN
  accessible
• Open source the community can make the changes
  it needs
• No need to wait around for vendors

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Step 1 - Evaluation

• How accessible is .LRN already?
• What needs to be done to make it comply?
• Accessibility evaluation of .LRN
• Process
• Results
• Recommendations

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What is web accessibility?

• A barrier-free web environment in which every
  user has access to the information and
  experiences available online - regardless of age,
  disability, or available technology.

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Situations that need accessibility

• No mouse
• Phone, PDA
• Blind
• Mobility imapaired

• No images
• Low bandwidth
• Text-only browser
• Blind/low vision

• No sound
• Office
• Deaf / hearing impaired

• No scripts
• Scripts disabled
• Old technology
• Blind user

• No video
• No download rights
• Old technology
• Blind/low vision user
• Deaf

• No plug-ins
• Office computer
• Old technology
• Low bandwidth

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Students who need accessibility

• Hi-tech
• Mobile Phones
• PDAs
• Small screens

• Low-tech
• Old technology
• Remote/rural
• Low bandwidth

• Physically disabled
• Deaf/Hearing impaired
• Blind/ low vision
• Mobility impaired

• Aging
• Low vision
• Low hearing

• Everyone else
• International/ other language
• Colour-blind
• All web users

• Workplace
• Office computer
• No download rights
• No plug-ins
• No sound

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Traditional accessibility

• LanguageInterpreters

• Note takers

• Large print books

• Curb ramps

• Braille books

• Elevators

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Web accessibility

• Captions
• Language tag

Althome Longdesc Title

• Alternate text

CC

• Resizable Text

• Access keys

• Screen readersscreen magnifiers

• Tabbing

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International standards

• W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
• International Accessibility guidelines
• 14 guidelines - Web Content Accessibility
  Guidelines (WCAG)
• Most governments use WCAG as national standard
• www.w3c.org

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Our process (summary)

• Install system
• Select sample pages (1 of each type)
• Perform automatic testing
• Perform manual testing
• Summarize results
• Recommend follow-up steps
• (based on W3C process)

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1,2 - Install and Select

• Installed .LRN and populated with content
• Selected 39 pages (admin community)

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3 - Perform automatic testing

• Selected automatic testing tools - more time than
  money so
• Evaluation versions of CynthiaSays and Bobby
• No login functionality so, saved all 39 pages and
  re-uploaded to site for testing one by one

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4 - Manual testing

• Examined pages for checkpoint violations
• Tried accessing with.
• Mozilla 1.0, Internet Explorer 6.0
• Lynx (text-only)
• Images off
• Sounds off
• Vary font size
• Change screen resolution
• Unplug mouse and use tab to navigate

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Results

• Priority 1 (all 16 tested) 1 violation
• Priority 2 (all 30 tested) 5 violations
• Priority 3 (all 19 tested) 4 violations
• Total 66 tested - only 10 violations

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Compliance levels

• A Meet all priority 1 checkpoints
• minimum level to be considered accessible
• Basis for legal requirements in many countries
• AA Meet all priority 1 2 checkpoints
• AAA Meet all priority 1, 2 3 checkpoints
• Most complete level

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.LRN and A compliance

• .LRN has only 1 violation keeping it from level A
  compliance!
• This 1 violation is easily fixed!
• What is this violation?
• Images must have an alt attribute
• Alternate text must be provided

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The alt attribute

• ltimg srcLeft.gifgt
• ltimg srcLeft.gif altBack one monthgt

Navigation arrows are images with no alt text -
useless with images off, screen reader or
text-only browser.
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Analysis Document

• Checklist/guide for fixing violations
• Identifies all instances of of every violation
  encountered
• Lists all WCAG checkpoints with full information
• How tested
• Problems discovered (if any)
• Instructions for fixing
• Considerations for future development

Available online as html http//www.eelab.usyd.ed
u.au/tkal6763/THESIS/accessibility.html
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Analysis Document

• List of all 66 checkpoints with information
• How tested
• Problems discovered
• Correction and/or future development suggestions
• Can be used to support planning
• Guidelines for future development/packages

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What now?

• Add alt tags to make .LRN accessible
• .LRN Certified to include WCAG A guidelines
  to ensure all components remain accessible

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In the future

• Correct all 10 violations for AAA compliance
• Once corrected, run comprehensive evaluation
• User testing
• More pages (include administrator view)
• Expert review
• Be the first and only AAA compliant
  LMS!Disclaimer (as of May05, dont know of any
  others(?). ATutor is AA)

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Complete evaluation document

• Available online at
• http//www.eelab.usyd.edu.au/tkal6763/THESIS/
  THESIS.doc