Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Web-Based Modifications for Students with Special Needs; A Starting Point
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By: David Currie, Delbert Hall, Rosalee Seymour |
Abstract
As faculty, we recognize the need to improve instructional websites such that they will provide information to a broader group of students. Here, a series of simple steps and a few simple technologies that instructors can immediately use, on an inexpensive basis, to make their web content more readily available to students and colleagues with special visual, auditory and physical needs are presented.
Description
In February, 2001, the US Department of Justice interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act to encompass the provision of services on public, commercial and government websites. Following the settlement of a number of high profile lawsuits, corporations with a strong web presence are working at a harried pace to make available online services to a broader clientele. Notable among these are AOL/Time Warner, Bank of America and Wells-Fargo Bank. While educators are generally anxious to incorporate a broader variety of technologies to enhance the online classroom for everyone, we should be cognizant that we must no longer let this area of online education lag behind other areas. The legal ramifications of further delay could be costly.
With guidance and assistance from our Disabilites Services Office, information regarding appropriate modifications to educational websites is being gathered from students with special needs, from their teachers and from others in the community with special needs. This information is being used to determine simple steps that faculty should follow during the design of instructional modules to be presented on the Internet.
We will present a number of simple text, graphic and audible modifications that will quickly make a greater proportion of class web content available to a greater number of persons. The good news is that all of these modifications enhance web interactivity for all students.
Proceeding