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Examples of ATs that can be used to meet the needs of students with hearing disabilities include digital audio recording of lectures (that may be streamed online) and captioning and subtitles to ensure that information provided in audio format is also provided in a visual medium (Wald 2002). Examples of assistive technologies that can meet the needs of students with visual impairments include screen magnification software and speech output systems consisting of a speech synthesizer and screen reading software (Neumann 2002). Draffan (2002) outlines AT for dyslexic students including speech output systems (text being read back through synthesized speech); spell-checkers and speech recognition software. Henderson (2002) describes the kinds of AT that students with physical disabilities may use including alternative input devices such as switches, head mice or voice and keyboard emulators.
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e-learning can be employed in face-to-face campus settings or at a distance as learners connect from home, work or other public spaces
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E-learning
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reduce issues of distance,
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electronic text, unlike printed text, can be read by individuals who are blind, vision impaired, dyslexic and by individuals who cannot hold a book or turn pages (Gay and Harrison 2001).
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physical access.
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development of AudioMath, an AT designed to enable visually impaired people to access mathematical expressions contained in online documents. AudioMath can be connected to a text-to-speech engine, providing speech rendering of MathML (coded mathematical expressions of the World Wide web Consortium (W3Q).
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Dixon (2004) describes the development of a ‘Code Memory Diagram Animation Software Tool’ designed to aid dyslexic computer programming students by expressing the temporal aspects of programming concepts.
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Colwell et al. (2002) describe the development of a remote experimentation system (the PEARL system), which can extend access to laboratory work for students who are unable to attend a conventional laboratory for a variety of reasons, such as disability,
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However, technology disables when it is developed without considering accessibility because it marginalizes segments of the population
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With the evolution of the World Wide web into a complex and glamorous multimedia entity, designers, who are often ignorant of principles of accessible design, are likely to create access barriers that are unsurmountable … and that leave people with print disabilities stranded.
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However, for students with disabilities, even if they do have access to computers and the Internet, they may not necessarily have access to accessible e-learning opportunities. These students therefore are still ‘have-nots’ and may experience what Burgstahler (2002a) describes as the ‘second digital divide’.
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This second digital divide is a result of the inaccessible design of many electronic resources.
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Rowland (2000) argues that if the web developer made simple accommodations to the site, the student would be able to hear what others see.
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Web pages divided [page 27] into segments or frames can confuse software programs that translate text to voice. Graphics that have not been labelled with text will be read only as ‘image’ by the software reading the text on the screen and will deprive students of valuable content. Whilst web pages with a long list of hyperlinks crowded together can confuse a student with visual, cognitive, or motor disabilities. In essence, the second digital divide is caused by poor inaccessible design:
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Yes, the newer screen reader software can recognize some standard graphics and connect words to them. If software designers would put text labels with their graphics, access would be simplified.
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If the staff in higher education do not design, develop and support accessible e-learning materials, then the gap between disabled and non-disabled students will widen and technology will outstrip its usefulness as a tool that can facilitate access to learning, curricula, independence and empowerment.
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This is a chapter I have read for my master module. I have highlighed some interesting stuff around making elearning accessible.
