AccessLearn Group update, May 2016

The evidence of our work is generally found in the group email discussions, or on the group’s wiki. But, after a year of existence, it seemed like a good time for a short update here, just so you know that the group is keeping busy!

Our mission is to explore how to support the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative in providing resources and guidance for people who want to provide accessible, quality online learning experiences for learners and instructors with disabilities.

That’s a broad remit for a community group that relies on unspecified commitments of volunteer time. For the group to be successful we need to target achievable and meaningful objectives.

So in our first year we ran an online survey to gather some information from group members on issues such as the relevance of current W3C accessibility specifications, and key challenges to creating and delivering accessible online learning. A summary of the survey findings is available on the wiki.

Following group discussion and a further survey, we have agreed on two parallel work streams:

1. Work stream 1: Gap Analysis of current WAI resources. This will look at current WAI resources from the perspective of accessible online learning, to understand what’s there and what might be missing.
2. Work stream 2: Documenting what the online learning community needs. This is a more blue-sky activity, profiling the “online learning community” and trying to identify what information different stakeholder groups in that community need.

We’re now in the process of organizing how each workstream will operate, and the best way to convey output to the relevant WAI Working Groups so that it has positive impact.

We’ll make sure to document progress and output via email and on the wiki, so you can keep track on what we’re doing. And if you’d like to get involved, please join us!