E-learning and Students with Disabilities: From Outer Edge to Leading Edge

Professor Barrie O’Connor has had a long history of involvement in promoting access and participation of students with disabilities in tertiary education. He has been president and chair of numerous bodies including the Higher Education Disability Network (Qld), the Tertiary Education Disability Council (Australia), the Queensland universities cooperative project, Tertiary Initiatives for People with Disabilities, the Access Committee at Queensland University of Technology, and the Vocational Education and Training Disability Reference Group for the Queensland Government. Barrie has a number of recent publications, including co-author of Students with Disabilities: Code of Practice for Australian Tertiary Institutions, and has featured as a keynote in recent conferences relating to the inclusion and participation of students with disabilities in tertiary education.

Click to read Barrie O'Connor's script of the Audio presentation

Contents

• Abstract
• Introduction
• What is E-learning?
• Implications for Post-secondary Education
• Accommodating diversity through universal design
• New approaches to teaching
• Embedding disability expertise across the educational institution
• Conclusion: Diversity is Coming-of-Age
• References

Abstract

The new millennium heralds exciting opportunities to diversify the ways in which we offer education. We can now provide greater flexibility through online access to learning -- when, where and how we do it. Breaking the shackles of tradition empowers all learners, including students with disabilities, as their diverse needs are increasingly accommodated in educational programs that are supported by information technology. This paper shows that such programs can support what people with disabilities have known all along -- we all learn in different ways and the more that differences can be accommodated through universal design, the less remarkable and marginalising those differences become.

E-learning is one important avenue for promoting greater access for all learners. To bring students with disabilities from the outer edge of educational considerations, teaching and information technology staff need to: apply principles of universal design, better understand the benefits of accessible technology for all learners, and ensure that electronic information environments are accessible to people with a range of disabilities. Teaching staff and students need new skills to embrace e-learning. These include presenting information in new ways, navigating and utilising the benefits the Web, and engaging in computer mediated conferencing. Leading edge advances, in both computer operating systems and assistive technology, provide students with disabilities new opportunities for fulfilment in educational programs. Educational administrators need to ensure that resources are available to progress the advantages of e-learning for all students, and that accessible electronic learning environments remain a central priority.

Introduction

By the beginning of the twentieth century, free public education in Australia had been embraced for several decades but governments were still coming to grips with the resources needed to provide a basic education for all children. It was characterised by large classes, inadequately trained teachers, limited knowledge of children’s development, compulsory attendance limited to primary school, and specialised and separate education for children with disabilities. By the 1960s, greater emphasis was placed on secondary education for all students, and segregated education for people with disabilities was being challenged. In the ‘70s, post-secondary education was overhauled to increase access for greater numbers of students in TAFE colleges and colleges of advanced education. In the ‘80s, increasing pressure was placed on young people to remain at school and by the ’90s the post-secondary education sector was being restructured to create a greater focus on vocational education and training. Notably in that final decade, increasing emphasis was also placed on access to post-secondary education for people with disabilities and on the concept of lifelong learning for everyone.

Information dissemination in the classroom has largely occurred via the textbook of prescribed reading and exercises. The implements of writing have progressed through the quill and ink, the slate and graphite pencil, the steel nib and ink, the fountain pen, the propelling pencil, the biro, the clutch pencil, the ball point pen, texta pens, roller ball pens to electronic pens. Information recording has progressed from manual typewriters to electric typewriters, daisy wheel and golf ball typewriters and electronic typewriters with simple memory, to the desk top personal computer and lap top PC. Input has changed from keyboard strokes to voice recognition software. Apart from textbooks, information reproduction depended on carbon paper copies, spirit duplicators, ink-based stencil duplicators, thermal reproduction technology, photocopiers and finally electronic scanners. Mass printing in educational institutions has included photocopying, small offset printers (single sided) and Perfector offset printers (both sides in one pass) and now CTP (computer to plate) print technology that accommodates electronic input of print and graphical images in colour.

It is against this background that the proliferation of computer technology has greatly impacted on the ways in which education is conducted at the commencement of this new century. Computers have become personal tools for teaching and learning across all sectors of education. Many institutions install computers and networks as essential infrastructure or expect students to purchase or lease computers to facilitate their learning. Shared use of desktop computers in computer laboratories is rapidly giving way to the flexibility of laptop computers, and families are embracing computer ownership to aid their children’s education. Increased computer memory capacity and storage using CD ROM have also increased dependence on technology rather than paper.

Access to information has been transformed by the increased sophistication of the Internet. The exponential growth in its use and applications is revolutionising global communication, particularly in commerce and education. There is increasing pressure to change educational programs that have been largely teacher-centred, textbook-driven, assessment-dominated, classroom-confined, timetable-constricted, and peer-competitive. Traditional educational approaches that have been dominated so pervasively by constraints of time and place and conservative practices face a liberating revolution. While wide access to multimedia technology in the home has been touted for some years, the full impact of this innovation is soon to be experienced as telephone lines cope with more sophisticated data transmission.

People with varying disabilities have the potential to benefit greatly from these new technologies. Information creation, storage and retrieval are now largely handled electronically. Digital technology can: convert speech to print and print to voice, increase the size of print, vary the contrast of print against background, and send broadband video signals to specific audiences via a telephone line. As a result, greater access to information is occurring for people who are deaf or hearing impaired, blind or vision impaired, or who have reading difficulties or speech difficulties. Broadband videotelephony now enables Deaf people to communicate via the telephone line using sign language (their first language), rather than translate via typed English on a TTY (teletypewriter) (McCaul, 1997). Much is expected of this technology to deliver greater access and equity to people with disabilities. The global information village that is the Internet is promoting access internationally. World Wide Web Consortium Director and inventor of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee, reminds us that "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect" (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative). What are the implications for post-secondary education? How can e-learning embrace such developments to promote inclusive educational experiences for students with a disability?

What is E-learning?

E-learning offers students and teachers the opportunity to engage in electronically mediated interaction with each other and with learning materials. Learning resources (print- based, graphical, audio-visual media) are largely made available electronically, either online or via CD ROM. Participants can access designated Websites or conduct their own search of the Internet. Interaction between learners and teachers and among learners is achieved using individual e-mail and its group variants e.g., listservers and computer mediated conferencing. Discussion occurs synchronously (at designated times) or asynchronously as participants read contributions from others and make their own over a longer time span.

E-learning can be used by learners in traditional, face-to-face educational settings or at a distance as they connect from home, workplaces, internet cafes or public libraries. The teacher’s role includes the usual dimensions -- development of curriculum, learning goals and learning resources, and facilitation of learning processes.

Several advantages characterise this approach:

1. E-learning transcends place -- physical classrooms are not required for use in the traditional sense, and students can join from a place of their choosing. While this may be seen as an advantage (Treviranus, 1999a), particularly for "homebound" students with a disability (Willing and able, 2000), it is important that e-learning does not become an excuse for not ensuring access to physical meeting spaces deemed important for other learners.

2. E-learning obviates dependence on a prescribed textbook -- resources may be derived from multiple locations, in varying formats, with the potential advantage of accessing more up-to-date and relevant information.

3. E-learning has the capacity to create increased opportunity for active engagement in learning. This can occur through ease of information access, greater choice of available materials, and contribution to group discussion. In addition, practice on expensive equipment may be achieved more economically through virtual reality simulation exercises.

4. E-learning transcends time – one aspect of learning style preference is accommodated as students pursue learning via a more flexible schedule; asynchronous discussion via a chat room enables them to join "the class" at personally convenient times.

5. E-learning affords people with a range of disabilities easier access to learning resources-- eg. students with vision, hearing, speech or mobility impairment and learning or psychiatric disabilities have the opportunity to communicate with their class peers using both better designed mainstream technology available to others without disabilities, and appropriate assistive technology that meets their particular needs. Even those who prefer to deal with the world from a safe and familiar environment at home when unwell, may find electronic access to be a beneficial alternative.

Treviranus (1999a) noted several other incentives for computer-mediated information exchange in higher education:

• Changing pedagogical emphases that focus on student-centred, cooperative learning take account of varying styles and pace of learning.

• The economics of information storage and transmission over a computer network ensures access to a larger group with smaller time investment.

• Speed of communication (eg. using email rather than paper mediated dissemination) is faster.

While computer-mediated exchange provides more flexible opportunities for learning, it does have some disadvantages as noted by Treviranus (1999a). These are:

• reduced face-to-face human contact with greater dependence on technology -- which can paradoxically be compensated by increased opportunities for wider geographical contacts;

• over-dependence on communicating and learning through writing -- which can be compensated by greater access to digitalised multimedia resources;

• study choices for students with disabilities limited to only available multimedia offerings, or reduced by the abandonment of ongoing curriculum access modifications in favour of the easy solution of computer access.

Other concerns that can be added include the potential for students to bear increasing costs of their education through the purchase and maintenance of computer and printers, and their need to make print copies to digest material more easily than reading from a screen. Estimates made by university printeries suggest that the cost per page printed by students is 12c-26c, four times the cost of printing in bulk at the university printery (D. Freeman, personal communication, 18 October 2000). In addition, overseas experience reveals ongoing student demand for hard copies of materials because of resistance to deal with print information solely online.

Universities can assist with access to software by using their position to purchase corporate licence fees for popular products. For example, Deakin University provides for its students a CR ROM toolkit that contains such software.

Implications for Post-secondary Education

E-learning creates new challenges for teaching staff, curriculum support services, disability support services and institutional administrators.

First, teaching staff need to accommodate diversity within their curriculum - the way they design their subjects, plan the learning experiences, identify the learning materials and assess the outcomes. They need to consider the ways in which students can learn at a distance from the classroom. Students with disabilities should be less a special concern and instead seen as part of the regular, diverse classroom membership. Programs need to be designed to be inclusive of everyone

Second, teaching staff need to develop expertise in creating learning experiences that utilise the e-learning technology. This requires new IT skills to design curriculum materials that can be placed on the Internet or stored on CD ROM. For example, developing online, auto-marked quizzes and other forms of skill and knowledge assessment requires new insights into the potential of the technology to deliver cost-effective outcomes. Helping students become familiar with online discussion groups and guiding their deliberations at a distance is different from managing face-to-face tutorial activities.

Third, disability expertise needs to be harnessed and embedded across the institution among teaching staff, library staff, information technology staff, Web designers, instructional designers and senior managers. Students with disabilities, disability advisers and equal opportunity managers can assist, but ultimate ownership needs to reside with staff in each of the key areas. IT staff have a particular responsibility to ensure that hardware and software needs are identified and met. Senior administrators need to provide for appropriate planning and resources to ensure that students with disabilities are not disadvantaged through e-learning. Institutional policy and practices must guarantee that Websites are accessible, as required by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Each is discussed in turn.

Accommodating diversity through universal design

Vanderheiden (1998) suggested three approaches to improving access to communication and information technologies for people with disabilities; change the person, provide individuals with tools they can use, or change the environment. Changing people with disabilities can occur through medical, psychological and educational interventions. Providing tools can involve access to "prosthetics, orthotics, and assistive technologies" (p. 30) typically customised to the needs of the individual. Changing the environment means changing "the way the world is designed so that it is usable by people with disabilities" (p. 30). This has been referred to as universal design.

Researchers at North Carolina State University (Connell, Jones, Mace, Mueller, Mullick, Ostroff et al.,1997) referred to universal design as the "design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." (p. 1). They developed seven Principles of Universal Design. While acknowledging that broader design principles exist, the authors argued that these seven principles focus only on considerations of usability by a wide cross section of the population. Each is briefly described together with suggested implications for e-learning.

The first principle, Equitable Use, seeks to maximise the usefulness of design for everyone, identical whenever possible and equivalent when not, so that it avoids segregating or stigmatising any users. Most major PC producers now provide built-in access packages (Keller, Owen & Parker, 2000; Vanderheiden,1998) that enable people with varying abilities to utilise the operating systems. Similarly, Web designers need to ensure that Web pages are readily accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities, as advocated by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative. Understanding similarities and differences in learner needs ensures that these are respected by teachers and students alike.

The second principle, Flexibility in Use, values design that accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. It should provide choice in methods of use, adaptability to the user’s pace, and facilitate the user’s accuracy and precision. For example, the generic access features of PCs enable users to choose from among alternative actions to achieve desired outputs. To print a document, one can use the simultaneous keystrokes "control + P", or use the mouse to select the printer icon or select the print command from the toolbar menu.

The third principle, Simple and Intuitive Use, seeks to create ease of understanding for users, regardless of their experience, knowledge and language. Teachers and instructional designers need to create effective layouts for teaching materials so that students can negotiate the material without confusion. The development of easily navigated Websites is also important -- simplicity and predictability should be core features in the design.

The fourth principle, Perceptible Information, seeks to ensure that design allows information to be communicated effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities. As already noted, technology can now transform information from one modality to another (eg. print to voice, voice to caption, print to Braille) and these capabilities need to be built into the e-learning environment. Websites need to ensure that graphics have accompanying Alt tags that describe them to blind users, that voice is translated into captions for the Deaf, and that action buttons are clearly and logically marked. Further advances are being made in developing simulated experiences of touching and manipulating objects or environments so that students can practice in a risk free environment and gain objective, simultaneous feedback regarding their actions, as may apply in physiotherapy and occupational therapy (Treviranus, 1999b).

The fifth principle, Tolerance for Error, seeks to minimise hazards and the negative consequences of accidental or unintended actions. PC access tools such as Sticky Keys, provide people with varying small motor skills the opportunity to use equipment in different ways, yet still operate independently and few errors. Tools for checking Web accessibility and pinpointing problems (eg. Center for Applied Special Technology’s Bobby) need to be used during Web design. Notwithstanding the need for excellence in technology design, teachers still need to facilitate learner interdependence and teamwork to manage risk proactively, particularly when students are exposed to each other’s stress and frustrations during computer medicated conferencing.

The sixth, Low Physical Effort, seeks to ensure that interaction with the environment can occur efficiently and comfortably and with minimal fatigue. One useful example is the generic provision of efficiency tools such as Macros and Auto Correct in Microsoft Word. Assistive technologies help where generic design features do not afford wider opportunities for access. As Keller et al. (2000, p. 2) noted, these devices "can be used in conjunction with standard software to provide specialist input and output capabilities …. [They include] screen readers (used by people with vision impairment), voice input systems, and on-screen keyboards used with switch device systems to allow access for people who cannot use standard input devices".

The seventh and final principle, Size and Space for Approach and Use, seeks to maximise approach, reach and manipulation capabilities of users irrespective of their size, posture and mobility. These features are important considerations not only in relation to the physical design of PCs (ergonomically designed keyboards and mouse variants are now commonly available), but also in the design of physical spaces for learner access to each other, their teachers and the library. Many tertiary institutions have established access rooms in libraries to house specific equipment for students needing to use, for example, a Braille embosser, Closed Circuit TV or voice input/output devices. While many students may telecommute from the home environment over which they have major control of size and space issues, consideration still needs to be given to this design feature in the work place, the local library or internet café.

[At the time of writing this paper, I was alerted to a publication by Bowe (2000) that addresses universal design in education. It has just been released, but I have not sighted it. Availability details appear at the foot of the reference list.]

Attention now turns to the dynamics of managing e-learners through computer mediated conferencing.

New approaches to teaching

E-learning focuses the attention of the teacher on ways of facilitating learning experiences through the electronic media, particularly harnessing the energies and insights of the group. As in face-to-face classes, curriculum decisions not only relate to specific learning outcome goals, but also to the range of processes that might be adopted by learners in reaching these goals as well as the content resources needed to meet them. Content resources may be provided through teaching notes and identified Web sites. Institutions typically make these subject-specific sites password-protected to prevent unwelcome intrusion or copyright infringements. Processes to engage students can include problem solving approaches, team-based assignments, as well as tasks undertaken individually but later reported to the group.

Just as staff and students need to negotiate skills for face-to-face discussion groups in class, similar learning is required for participating in electronic chat rooms. The teacher typically acts as discussion moderator although other students can adopt this role as their skills develop. Salmon (2000) identified five stages in the emergence of fully functioning computer mediated conferencing.

Stage one: access and motivation

Participants need to be aware of the availability and benefits of the process and gain access to the conference after first mastering dial-up and log-on processes. This stage can create enormous disincentives to continue if ease of access is not supported. Staff need to ensure appropriate technology expertise and assistance are available to help students gain ease of access.

Stage two: online socialisation

Participant socialising needs to be prompted by the moderator. Many participants feel they are launching into a void when making their initial written comments. They lack the immediate benefit of non-verbal feedback and know that their words remain in print for all to see rather than pass quickly from notice when covered by others’ comments, as occurs in oral exchange. Some hold back and browse the thoughts of others until they too take courage to commit their contribution. The staff member as moderator may need to set guidelines for early socialising comments – "tell us about you, what you want to learn, how you feel about this form of learning" – and subsequently guide participants in the skills of empathy and the etiquette of constructive critique.

Stage three: information exchange

As participants begin to explore listed information sources and investigate other Websites, they make and respond to requests for further information. Salmon noted that as overload frequently occurs in this process, moderators need to keep the group focused. She indicated that participants find their own ways to deal with the overload, but some may become overwhelmed, drop out of the discussion and need follow up support from the moderator.

Stage four: knowledge construction

Participants begin to share and extend each other’s ideas and understandings on a topic, to challenge and develop theory and explore new directions in thinking. The moderator as tutor may engage in weaving the thread of discussions and later adopt a more collaborative rather than authoritative role as students lead the discussion.

Stage five: development

At this stage experienced participants have developed the maturity to operate their own discussion, to support newcomers, to pursue their own learning and engage in critical thinking. They also begin to reflect on the processes of computer-mediated learning and how these have influenced their development.

Though one component in the e-learning operation, e-moderating processes are at the heart of student-student and student-teacher interaction. Giving students are greater say in their learning challenges traditional, lecturer-dominated educational experiences.

One of the benefits of e-learning at a distance is that all participants are valued for their critical thinking, their generosity, their ingenuity. Those with a disability are not prejudged on their disability, which essentially remains hidden, a factor also noted by Keller et al. (2000) in relation to email. Interacting electronically removes the mask of potential prejudice. Speech impairment and slow responses caused by mobility impairments do not impact on the flow of discussion because immediacy of response is not important. Nonetheless, some students may wish to disclose that they have a disability if they believe such information is relevant to life of the group.

Embedding disability expertise across the educational institution

For e-learning to benefit students with a disability, it is crucial that disability expertise is shared and embedded throughout the institution. Teaching staff, learning resource services and IT staff need to become familiar with accessible Web design requirements and the availability of assistive technologies. They need to be aware of the potential barriers presented by multimedia and graphics-based information and how to deal with these challenges.

The Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to assist Web designers, noting common problems and how to deal with them effectively. Answering a misconception that accessible sites need to be text-only or dull and boring in layout, Fact 7 notes:

As already noted, Web designers can check accessibility using a checking program such as Bobby (Center for Applied Special Technology). There are many other Websites that provide information on people with disabilities accessing the Internet, as suggested by Hayes (1998). Heim (2000) reported on IBM’s move to make its Website accessible. She noted that the accessibility centre Webmaster found that the biggest challenge was educating employees on the importance of Web accessibility. He commented, "We’ve found that one of the most effective motivators is to let someone hear how their Web page sounds [when recited by a screen reader]. When they hear how broken it sounds, [it inspires] them to change it." (p. 181).

While assistive technologies continue to fill the gaps that universal design is unable to address, Vanderheiden (1998) noted several problems with this approach. Accessible technologies:

1. are often expensive when customised to an individual

2. are often unknown to those who might best make use of them, especially those who acquire disabilities late in life

3. may be resisted by those who can best benefit from their use (eg. use of hearing aids among older people)

4. may be overtaken by rapidly developing mainstream technologies to which they relate.

In their Australian study, Keller et al. (2000) found that some people with disabilities who were experienced in using computers were unaware of the access features already built-in to regular PC operating systems, which could have assisted them. They further noted the need for creating increased awareness of access possibilities among users with disabilities. This important task needs to be addressed by teaching and technology staff in educational institutions, with advice from disability liaison officers and students with disabilities themselves.

Vanderheiden (1998) argued that universal design and assistive technologies typically work hand-in-hand. While some products may increase access to a wider range of users, people with certain types of disabilities may still need access to specific assistive technologies. He listed several emerging technologies that assist access across disabilities in the communication and information area:

• Voice synthesiser technologies

• Small, high-resolution displays

• Use of microprocessors

• Voice recognition

• EZ access protocols

Researchers at Deakin University (Owens, Keller, Smith, Lamb, & Verlinden, 1999) are seeking to increase communication access for people with disabilities through the development of software programs called MultiWeb and MultiMail. These respectively help bridge links to the Web and email. The Web is largely inaccessible to people who are unable to manipulate the mouse or keyboard for selecting links and menu options. MultiWeb provides various interfaces specifically designed to work with input devices including mouse, keyboard, switch device and touch screen, thus providing people with various ways of accessing the web. Other options enable users to select print size, highlight text, small buttons, speech, talking buttons, colours and fonts, and button placement (top, left, right or bottom of screen) to ensure easy access. A new version is due for release by the end of November 2000. MultiWeb can be downloaded free from the Institute of Disabilities Website. MultiMail is still being developed.

It is imperative that senior staff in educational institutions give prominence to accessibility issues in institutional policies and practices, so that students or staff with disabilities are not disadvantaged through the move to e-learning initiatives. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has developed Advisory Notes on World Wide Web access, emphasising that information and other material provided through the Web is regarded as a service covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. One successful action was recently brought against the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games for its failure to provide access to a blind user of the Games Website.

Conclusion: Diversity is Coming-of-Age

Many people with disabilities have languished at the edge of mainstream post-secondary education for a long time. They have coped with delays in obtaining timely services and learning materials in accessible formats. They have endured passing rather than higher grades because of low expectations. While e-learning is not a panacea, it has an enormous capacity to honour diversity in learning styles and capabilities if we become more enlightened about its potential uses for all learners. E-learning has the potential to progress people with disabilities from the outer edges of educational opportunity to the leading edge of educational innovation.

References

Center for Applied Special Technology. Bobby [Online]. Available: http://www.cast.org/

Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., et al. (1997). The principles of universal design Version 2.0 4/1/97. Raleigh, NC: NC State University, The Center for Universal Design [On-line]. Available: http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm

Hayes, M.G. (1998). Individuals with disabilities using the Internet: a tool for information and communication. Technology and Disability, 8, 153-158.

Heim, J. (2000, Sept.). Locking out the disabled. PC World, 18(9), 18. [On-line] Available: http://web2.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. World Wide Web: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes [On-line]. Available:
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html

Keller, S., Owens, J., & Parker, C. (2000, July). Improving online access for people with disabilities. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems, Vienna, July.

McCaul, T. F. (1997). Video-based telecommunications technology and the Deaf community (Research Summary ). Brisbane: Australian Communication Exchange Ltd.

MultiWeb - Improving Access to the World Wide Web [On-line]. Available: http://mis.deakin.edu.au/multiweb/ (for information)

http://mis.deakin.edu.au/multiweb (for download the software)

Owens, J., Keller, S., Smith, K., Lamb, G., & Verlinden, D. (1999). Increased communication access through MultiWeb and MultiMail. Paper presented at the AccessAbility Conference, Monash University, Melbourne.

Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page.

Treviranus, J. (1999a). The electronic campus and equal access to higher education [On-line]. Available: http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/rd/library/papers/elecampus.html

Treviranus, J. (1999b). Adding feeling, sound and equal access to distance education [On-line]. Available: http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/rd/library/papers/TREVIR_J.html

Vanderheiden, G.C. (1998). Universal design and assistive technology in comunication and information technologies: Alternatives or complements. Assistive Technology, 10, 29-36.

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative [On-line]. Available: http://www.w3.org/WAI/

World Wide Web Consortium. Web Accessibility Guidelines [On-line]. Available: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/

Willing and able: Online learning and students with disabilities. The CanLearn Insider. Issue 1 February - March 2000 [On-line]. Available: http://www.canlearn.ca/english/café/insider/issue_1.shtr

New resource:

Bowe, F.G. (2000). Universal design in education: Teaching nontraditional students.

Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. 144 pages

ISBN 0-89789-688-2. US$49.95

Order online at: http://info.greenwood.com/books/0897896/0897896882.html

The author is grateful to Gayle Lamb, Institute of Disability Studies at Deakin University, for her constructive comments on this paper.

Contact details:

Postal address: Institute of Disability Studies, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Vic. 3125.

Email: oconnorb@deakin.edu.au

Web: http://www.hbs.deakin.edu.au/ids

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