Aslib Proceedings

Education and training for accessible web design

Jonathan Willson Jenny Craven Richard Eskins
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Jonathan Willson Jenny Craven Richard Eskins, (2010),"Education and training for accessible web design",
Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 62 Iss 1 pp. 57 - 69
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Training for
Education and training for accessible web
accessible web design design
Jonathan Willson
Department of Information and Communications, 57
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Jenny Craven Received 17 August 2009
Revised 26 October 2009
Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM), Accepted 29 October 2009
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, and
Richard Eskins
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Department of Information and Communications,

Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the web_access project, funded through the EC
Lifelong Learning Programme. The paper aims to provide a context for the proposed study
programme and describe current work in the development of the curriculum and content.
Design/methodology/approach Analysis has been undertaken of the state of the art in education
and training for accessible web design in the English language, starting with the national situation in
the UK and then further-a-field by highlighting international resources. The main outcome of the
two-year multilateral, multi-partner project is to develop a joint study programme in accessible web
design.
Findings While there is evidence of the inclusion of design for all in ICT teaching, as well as the
provision of free and commercial tutorials and workshops, analysis has found provision to be
fragmented and none to date has been identified as leading to a professional qualification or certificate
in accessible web design that is recognised by industry or employers. The proposed curriculum for the
study programme described in this paper aims to address this issue.
Originality/value While there is evidence of the inclusion of design for all in ICT teaching, as well
as the provision of free and commercial tutorials and workshops, analysis has found provision to be
fragmented and none to date has been identified as leading to a professional qualification or certificate
in accessible web design that is recognised by industry or employers.
Keywords Education and training, Worldwide web, Design, United Kingdom, Europe
Paper type General review

Introduction
This paper reports on analysis undertaken of the state of the art in education and
training for accessible web design in the English language, starting with the national
situation in the UK and then further-a-field by highlighting international resources. It
reports on research that is currently in progress to inform the web_access project,
which is a multilateral project to develop a distance learning curriculum and teaching Aslib Proceedings: New Information
materials with regard to national diversity at a European level in the field of accessible Perspectives
Vol. 62 No. 1, 2010
web design. The aim of the paper is to generate discussion and sharing of knowledge pp. 57-69
and expertise relating to current best practices in the field of education and training q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0001-253X
for accessible web design. DOI 10.1108/00012531011015208
 AP Indicative context
62,1 The European Parliament (2002) called for all public web sites of the EU institutions
and the member states to be fully accessible to disabled persons by 2003. Four years
later a Ministerial Declaration[1] at the Riga conference renewed this call but added
seven years to the original target. This less demanding target was set in the knowledge
of a lack of progress since 2003. Tests of 436 public sector web sites across Europe
58 found that only 3 per cent achieved a minimum standard of accessibility, Level A of the
WCAG 1.0 guidelines (Cabinet Office, Great Britain, 2005). No site attained the higher
standard of Level Double-A conformance. More recent findings (European
Commission, 2007) found that the accessibility of public sector web sites had barely
increased to 5 per cent.
The 2002 Resolution showed a political commitment to action. There was, however,
no penalty for Member states that failed to act and European legislation was not being
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considered. Yet the 2005 study subsequently found that the single most significant
influencing factor was found to be the existence of legal incentives. Consequently the
European Commission seeks to raise awareness through a campaign called
e-Inclusion, be part of it! during 2008 and e-accessibility legislation is under
consideration. A ministerial conference at year-end hopes to demonstrate concrete
progress and commitments will be reinforced.
So the political will is strong. But the empirical data show that progress in the
public sector to date has stalled throughout Europe. Public procurement policies are
seen as key to delivering accessible web sites. The 2006 Declaration referred to making
conformance with accessibility standards mandatory in public procurement by 2010.
Such obligations are already in force in the UK through the Public Contracts
Regulations 2006 (HM Treasury, Great Britain, 2006). Broader legislative measures
have been adopted in several EU member states including the UK, Spain, Austria and
Italy. These may also impact on the private as well as the public sector.
More recently the European Commission (2008) has conducted an extended public
consultation on web accessibility. The Commission sought views on further measures
to make web sites in Europe accessible and the actions that member states could take.
It also invited feedback on more general issues of accessibility related to information
and communication technologies for disabled persons, such as digital television.

Education and training

The Cabinet Office 2005 study asked about web accessibility training initiatives in the
public sector. A total of 11 member states reported initiatives, but these were
discovered to be of significantly different scope and level. It also asked about the
availability of W3C WAI Guidelines in national languages and found that some
minority languages were not covered. A dearth of support and tutorial resources in
localised forms was highlighted.
The study made the following recommendations about training, recognising that
different roles need different training:
.
For web managers and developers in all public sector organisations. Make sure
that all content commissioners and authors are fully trained in the importance of
accessible content, and in the means that are made available for them to achieve
this.
 .
For web designers in the software industry. Train all web designers in both the Training for
requirement for, and the techniques to achieve fully accessible web sites. Develop accessible web
a competence framework for web designers that include web accessibility and
use it for personal development schemes and recruitment campaigns. design
.
For public policy-makers at EU level. Carry out a feasibility study in 2006 into the
development of an appropriate qualification in accessible web sites for
developers, managers and content providers (perhaps aligned with the European 59
Computer Driving Licence) (Cabinet Office, Great Britain, 2005).
The more recent Measuring Progress of e-Accessibility in Europe (MeAC) study
identified ICTs in education as a policy option:
e-Accessibility in the educational context needs a high visibility and attention in future
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EU-level policy on e-Accessibility (European Commission, 2007).

Thus education and training for a wide range of stakeholders is necessary for building
capacity and competences to deliver accessible web sites in the public sector, with
attendant benefits to the private sector where conformance to standards and good
practice is generally poor. For example, research in the UK (Nomensa, 2006) found that:
In total, 75 per cent of businesses in the FTSE 100 list of companies fail to meet the minimum
requirements for web site accessibility.
Design for All (DfA) is the focus of an IST Coordination Action: Design for All for
eInclusion, the objectives[2] of which include:
.
Extend the uptake of DfA within the ICT Industry in Europe (Objective 5).
.
Establish suitable criteria, structures and content for the creation of both online
and off-line courses for Design for All for eInclusion for a wide range of
stockholders, e.g. designers, business executives, user groups, undergraduates
(modules) and postgraduates (MSc degree level) (Objective 6).
Design for all in the curriculum has also been addressed by the Design for All Network
of Excellence (D4ALLnet) (EU Information Society Technologies Programme) set up in
2001. D4ALLnet aims to set up networks of excellence in DfA across Europe to:
. . . integrate information and identify core knowledge sets and skills for model curricula in
design for all specifically for information and communication products, systems and services
(Nicolle et al., 2001).
The knowledge and skills sets proposed by DfA include:
.
Design for All awareness: to encourage students to think about the diverse needs
of users and how barriers may be put up when understanding of user needs is
not fully understood.
.
Ethical, legal and commercial considerations: including inclusive solutions and
equal opportunities to DfA; legislative frameworks; commercial benefits of DfA.
.
Recommendations: awareness of the principles, guidelines, standards and
recommendations available.
.
Interpersonal skills for teamwork: providing students with the necessary skills to
convince co-workers of the importance of DfA and the solutions provided.
 AP .
Accessible content: teaching students about current methods and techniques to
62,1 produce accessible content or to convert content to become more accessible.
.
Accessible interaction: teaching students about different assistive technologies
and adaptive devices, which help enable accessibility.
.
New paradigms of interaction: looking to new and emerging issues.
60 .
User centred design: teach students about the philosophies and methodologies
relating to users and usability/accessibility issues (Velasco et al., 2004).
Recommendations are made for the creation of common guidelines on teaching DfA
which contain topics such as what to teach, whom to teach, how to teach and where to
teach (Mohamad et al., 2008). Problems identified, which need to be addressed in order
to achieve this include:
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.
Incompatible definitions and terms.
.
Different and conflicting regulations.
.
Inconsistent standards and contradictory guidelines.
.
Unnecessary certifications in the field of IT compliance especially of web
resources and applications (Mohamad et al., 2008, p. 150).

Design for all in ICT teaching

Desk research for the project has been conducted on the state of the art regarding
accessibility and legal frameworks worldwide and especially in Europe. The scope
includes existing and planned courses in the field of accessible web design in the
national countries, Europe and internationally. It addresses (but is not limited to)
models, best practice, surveys and other current studies in the field as well as
pedagogical approaches and eLearning systems.
Eskins and Craven (2008) undertook a review of training and awareness of web
accessibility in the library and information science (LIS) curricula. Evidence was found
in this sector of accessibility and design for all being built into courses and modules,
rather than being a mere add-on. Examples include Manchester Metropolitan
University (MMU) Department of Information and Communications[3] where basic
web design, which includes an introduction to accessibility, is core at both
undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Accessibility is built into all web design
assessments which include the use of Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines, use of
validated code, use of Cascading Style Sheets to separate content from structure, and
implementation of techniques such as style switchers and skip navigation links. Issues
such as colour contrast, accessible tables and informative title attributes are also
embedded into the ethos of the taught units. The Department of Information Studies in
Sheffield[4] run a module called Designing Usable Web sites. Aimed at both
postgraduate and undergraduate students this introduces themes of usability and
accessibility in terms of online information delivery. This includes an introduction
called What is usability and why we care and a further session on accessibility. The
Department of Information Studies at the University of Wales Aberystwyth[5] has
until very recently run a module on Electronic Publishing predominantly web sites.
The Department of Information-Science at Loughborough University[6] teach web
design and authoring to undergraduates and design and authoring for the WWW to
postgraduates. The assessed work for both these modules involves students designing
 and creating their own web pages part of the criteria of assessment is how far the Training for
pages are accessible to a wide audience. accessible web
Other examples include the department of archive and library sciences at the Ionian
University in Greece[7]. Web design is taught there as part of the Multimedia course. design
Though advanced web design applications such as Dreamweaver provide accessibility
support, the students are taught to apply accessibility principles through code
elements using XHTML and CSS, as structural and presentational elements 61
respectively. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to apply, as a
minimum, fundamental accessibility recommendations such as the application of
alternative text tags and id elements. They are also encouraged to test their web pages
for compliance with a number of different web browsers.
In 2008, the International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special
Needs (ICCHP) held a Special Thematic Session (STS) on Education for web design
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and e-Learning. The aim of the STS was to bring together stakeholders such as
educators, e-Learning providers, and researchers to share their knowledge and
expertise. Presentations included the development and delivery of a ten-credit module
on assistive technologies and universal design at the University of Southampton,
which has been taught to computer science and software engineering Masters students
at the University of Southampton. The teaching methods include lectures to present
concepts and theory, seminars to explore research issues and workshops and
supported tasks to provide practical experience (Wald, 2008, p. 191). Theoretical and
practical online tasks are included as well as providing course materials online. A
presentation by Ball and McNaught (2008) discussed the importance of well chosen and
executed uses of web technology, which can help support students in a variety of ways.
For example, by creating more inclusive document formats (Word, PowerPoint, PDF)
or by utilising Web2.0 technologies to enhance the learning experience through
services such as mind mapping, collaborative writing and discussion tools (Ball and
McNaught, 2008, p. 218). The JISC TechDis Service[8] provides free online materials,
such as staff development materials, case studies and how-to guides. These resources
can help staff to find solutions to the barriers faced by students, whether they are
technological barriers, geographical, locational, or accessibility related barriers.
Looking more specifically at disability awareness issues and ICT, Leeds Metropolitan
University in the UK demonstrated a set of training tools which have been developed to
raise awareness of experiences faced by people with visual, mobility, hearing and
cognitive difficulties when using computers. A computer-based test has been created
which simulates the experiences of students when using computers and provides
counselling and guidance to teaching staff on how best to cater for their needs. Staff
responded in a positive way to the test and have indicated an interest in learning
about disability through further sessions (Gray et al., 2008, p. 205).
Design for All and E-inclusion, as part of the project DfA@eInclusion is analysing
courses at different levels undergraduate, postgraduate, vocational and trainer. A
survey was carried out across 22 EU countries to analyse the current state of DfA
training in ICT across Europe (Whitney and Keith, 2008), covering vocational,
undergraduate, professional and higher degree and educator levels of training. The
survey revealed around 50 courses or elements of courses, which include topics such as:
.
Use of the Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines.
.
Inclusive design.
 AP .
Universal access principles.
62,1 .
Models of disability and inclusion (Whitney and Keith, 2008, p. 158).
The courses provided examples of good practice where DfA is integrated into
mainstream teaching (see Whitney and Keith, 2008, p. 160). The study concludes that
such courses will need to be harmonized across Europe and professionally
62 recognised (p. 161).
As well as more formal methods of teaching barrier free web design, a number of
online tutorials and toolkits are available, some free of charge, such as the TechDis
staff packs and some commercially available, such as the EASI and Netskills
workshops. For example:
.
TechDis staff packs[9]: Accessible e-Learning; what Microsoftw does for
accessibility; checking accessibility of e-Resources; dyslexia and the use of
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assistive technology; e-Assessment; introduction to assistive technology within a

learning environment; an introduction to web accessibility.
. Netskills workshops[10]: Disability and access to the web; Legal obligations, e.g.
DDA and SENDA; Guidelines and best practice: The international Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI); Accessibility features for HTML and web
browsers; Assistive technologies for disabled users; Accessibility, Usability and
Design-for-all; Techniques for creating accessible web content; Testing and
evaluating web pages.
.
AbilityNet courses[11]: Accessibility setting the scene; What do we mean by
accessibility? Why it is important?; What the law says about accessibility; Who
does it affect and why?; A practical introduction to guidelines and testing
techniques; A strategic approach to web accessibility; The challenge of new
technologies; The Business case.
.
EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information[12]: barrier-free web design
course enables students to gain a Certificate in Accessible Information
Technology through a partnership between EASI Corp and the University of
Southern Maine to provide Credits towards an online certificate program. This
can be taken anytime and anywhere. It is provided using distance learning
technologies over the Internet.
Elements of these courses offer some of the core areas of barrier free web design
which have been identified as essential to the understanding of this topic.
While there is evidence of the inclusion of design for all in ICT teaching, as well as the
provision of free and commercial tutorials and workshop, provision is quite fragmented
in Europe and none to date has been identified as leading to a professional qualification
or certificate in barrier free web design that is recognised by industry. EASI (mentioned
previously) is an isolated example of private and public partnership in the USA and
claims that its online training has been delivered for a decade to some 5,000 people in
over three dozen different countries[13]. Although a well-established initiative, in a
global context there needs to be many more such accredited programmes.

Joint study programme on accessible web design

Advice and guidance on designing and commissioning accessible web sites is widely
available but, despite this, surveys and reports have identified no significant
 improvement to the overall accessibility of web sites, particularly for people with Training for
disabilities. There is an identified need to improve the situation by raising awareness accessible web
and understanding through more formal education and training.
web_access[14] is a two year project funded by the European Commission Lifelong design
Learning Programme, 2007-2013. It is a multilateral project within the Erasmus
sub-programme under the Action Curriculum development: Development of European
modules. The main outcome of web_access is the development of a distance learning 63
module with regard to national diversity at a European level in the field of accessible
web design, and involves six partner institutions from Austria (the lead partner), the
UK, Ireland, Hungary, Germany and Spain. The project is developing new modules and
re-purposing existing materials offered by the partner organisations (and beyond) to
deliver an international online joint study programme in accessible web design. It aims
to be designed in a way that will enable access to as many people as possible through
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formal education, CPD activities and return to work initiatives. The overall aim is to
provide an accredited programme that will lead to academic qualifications, giving
recognition to and enhancing the status of anyone involved in the field of accessible
web design.
The project partners have produced a curriculum for the joint study programme
that has been formally submitted to, and accepted by the European Commission.
This has been described by Hengstberger et al. (2008) and Version 2.0 became
public in the final quarter of 2008. The curriculum document will be adapted,
updated and continuously improved during the second year of the project. Version
2.0 of the document is being reviewed by two to three experts in each of the partner
countries during 2009 (approximately 15 reviewers in total). The scale of the
programme and the 24-month project duration mean that content creation had to
commence before the peer review process could be completed. The reviewers
comments will be presented as an evaluation report and where appropriate changes
will be made to the final public version of the curriculum. It is the ambition of the
partners that a unified European curriculum will help establish a European teaching
standard in this field. To this end a business model is being explored that would
support the continual review and updating of the curriculum beyond the initial
funded period.

Curriculum structure and content

In outline, the curriculum comprises the following six content areas:
(1) Fundamentals of accessibility.
(2) Assistive technologies.
(3) Guidelines and legal requirements.
(4) Special knowledge on accessibility.
(5) Design and usability.
(6) Project development.
Each of these content areas contains courses and learning objects. The partners are
developing some of this content as well as reusing material in the public domain.
Each of the content areas contains an overall description and its relation to the
study programme as a whole. Learning outcomes for each content area are identified
 AP and indicative content is listed separately, structured as a set of courses. For example,
62,1 Fundamentals of Accessibility Content Area contains the following courses:
.
Course 1: Introduction to accessible web design.
.
Course 2: Societal impacts and effects of accessible web design.
.
Course 3: Technical foundations.
64
Each course contains a number of topic areas to be covered. For example Course 1
Introduction to Accessible Web Design includes the following:
.
Introduction to programme. Overview of the complete web_access programme.
This includes course descriptions, teaching methods, methods of delivery,
communications and possible assessment schedules.
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.
Concepts and definitions of accessible web design. Defining what is meant by
accessible web design, a brief history of web accessibility, the concepts and
terms such as web usability, Design for All and assistive technology.
.
Overview of disabilities. Details of disability types such as visual and cognitive
disabilities and how the use of the web may be affected by these disabilities.
Explanation of social and medical models of disability and how these may
influence accessible web design.
.
Web standards. Introduction to W3C standards including HTML, CSS and the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
.
Best practice in Accessible Web Design (examples). Practical examples to
introduce key issues in the design of web pages, and demonstration of problems
faced by disabled users when accessing a badly designed web site in comparison
with a web site designed for accessibility.
.
Introduction to Principles of Design for All. Introduction to the legal and ethical
issues that inform and drive the Design for All movement. The advantages and
disadvantages of the Design for All approach.

Course delivery will be predominantly online, with a mixture of audio described lecture
slides, demonstrations, revision exercises (e.g. online quiz), and opportunities for
interaction with staff and students through discussion boards and group exercises.
The format for delivery of the project content is A-Tutor, which is discussed in more
depth in the following section on accessibility.

Issues for consideration

There are a number of issues which have become apparent during the life of the project
and which need to be considered and addressed when developing a multi-partner,
multi-country joint study programme. The main issues identified thus far are:
. Accreditation of the study programme.
.
Adoption of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
.
Accessibility of the study programme: course content and at point of creation.

Each will now be discussed in more depth.

 Accreditation Training for
It is planned to have the joint study programme accredited in as many of the Partner accessible web
universities as possible. The process of accreditation varies considerably between each
country and even education institutions, and the timescale for approval will extend design
beyond the funded lifetime of the project in most cases.
Each country has its own procedures for accrediting courses. In some countries, this
process is more complex and takes longer than in others. For example, in Germany, the 65
accreditation progress is undertaken by the following:
. Accreditation Council: makes decisions on all matters of the Foundation,
especially accreditation and re-accreditation of agencies.
.
Foundation Council: monitors the lawfulness and efficiency of the Foundation
activities carried out by the Accreditation Council and the Board.
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.
Accreditation Board: executes the Accreditation Councils resolutions.
In Ireland, at Dublin City University, the accreditation process involves the submission
of a detailed programme proposal to an Accreditation Board with a request for a
recommendation from it as to whether or not the programme meets the nationally and
internationally accepted requirements for the award to which it is designed to lead. The
board comprises a group of academic and, as appropriate, other professional experts
from outside the university
In the UK, at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), the process of
accreditation or validation is known as Strategic Approval. The aim of strategic
approval is to ensure that the design, academic standards and quality of learning
opportunities of new taught programmes are appropriate to the awards to which they
lead and are informed by reference to institutional regulations and policies, national
benchmarks and relevant professional and employment demands.
Strategic approval is the commencement of a formal institutional procedure. It
should, however, take place after a significant period of reflection on curriculum design
and research into target markets undertaken by the programme team in consultation
with relevant stakeholders across the university as part of MMUs planning process.
The approval process for new proposals involves the following stages:
.
Stage 1: Strategic approval (at faculty and university levels).
.
Stage 2: Academic scrutiny.
.
Stage 3: University approval.
As a partner in the web_access project, the Department of Information and
Communications at MMU intends to launch a Distance Masters (MSc) in Accessible
Web Design. The programme would be based on the joint curriculum and content
developed by the project by the end of 2009. The proposed MSc would have a 180 credit
value at Masters Level comprising six taught units each of 20 credits totalling 120
credits, and a dissertation worth 60 credits. A total of 20 MMU credits are equivalent to
200 hours of teaching, learning and student effort; 20 MMU credits are nominally
equivalent to 10 ECTS (see next section). Of especial relevance for a taught program
based on the web_access curriculum, MMU strategic approval requires that the
program team should at the earliest stage consult the Equalities Unit on how to
conduct an Equalities Impact Assessment on possible curriculum content, the delivery
 AP and assessment methods, to identify potential barriers to the participation of disabled
62,1 students or those from under-represented groups.
It is likely to be a stand-alone programme initially, i.e. to not involve any
collaborative provision. Developing such provision is more complex, time-consuming
and costly than a stand-alone programme, requiring for example the negotiation of
Formal Agreements with partner institutions, formal planning meetings, full
66 documentation of the principles and procedures of the collaboration, and visits to
each partner to assess resources.
MMU has a strong commitment to professional and vocational education. Many of
its existing awards are recognised by professional, regulatory and statutory bodies
(PSRBS). This usually raises the profile of an award and can be important for
recruitment to a programme. The Department will explore professional accreditation
for the proposed MSc, in line with the Universitys Code of Practice for engagement
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with PSRBs.
Achieving institutional approval for a programme is a somewhat time-consuming
and lengthy process. It will not be possible to accredit the proposed MSc within the
timescale of the web access project (i.e. by end-2009). It is intended to start the approval
process during the academic year 2009/2010 (i.e. to achieve Stage 1 Strategic
Approval). The programme team would anticipate completing Stage 2 Academic
Scrutiny in the first part of 2010 with academic approval following towards the end of
the academic year 2009/2010. As the proposed Masters would be a distance
programme, its launch is not necessarily tied to the normal academic year
(September-June). It is hoped that the first cohort could be recruited in late 2010.
There is a mechanism by which individual credit-bearing units based on the
web-access content can be made available more quickly. Such units (20 MMU credits)
can be designed and approved to run as part of an existing programme at MMU. The
department already delivers an MSc in information management in full- and part-time
modes of study and this would be a suitable vehicle. Less documentation is required
and the approval process for such units is much faster. Any credits achieved would be
fully transferable in the normal way. The unit(s) that could be developed would be
dependent on the completion and availability of content areas within the web_access
project. It is feasible that the first such unit could be offered during 2010.

European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) provide a
mechanism for students to collect credits for learning achieved through higher
education. ECTS credits are awarded for successfully completed studies. Credit
transfer facilitates student mobility across the European Union and other collaborating
European countries. Credit accumulation creates a variety of learning paths towards
degree outcomes. The system also aims to facilitate curriculum design and the
validation of qualifications and units of learning.
Of a full-time year of formal learning (the academic year), 60 ECTS credits are
attached to the workload, and the associated learning outcomes. In most European
countries, one academic year corresponds to a student workload of 1,500-1,800 hours of
learning activities, irrespective of standard or qualification type. Thus, one credit
corresponds to 25-30 hours of work.
 In the UK, the measurement of credit-transfer is different. It is generally accepted Training for
that one credit point equates to ten hours of student workload. An academic year of accessible web
study comprises 120 credits that equate to 1,200 hours of learning activities. The UK
academic year is nominally equivalent to 60 ECTS: however a UK workload of 1,200 design
hours falls outside the range of 1,500-1,800 hours that is found elsewhere in Europe.
The underlying difficulty with making comparisons between the UK and elsewhere in
Europe has been noted by Fielding (2008). Consequently within the web_access 67
consortium attempts to make comparisons between MMU and the other partners have
proved complex.
The web_access core curriculum comprises 60 ECTS at Masters level, structured
into Content Areas that comprise Courses of varying ECTS values. The content areas
range from 5-18 ECTS and the courses range from 1.5-12 ECTS. In order to deliver this
core within the MMU framework of individual (and generally larger) 20 credit units,
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the curriculum structure will have to be adapted as part of the programme design and
approval described previously.

Accessibility
One of the aims of the project is to develop a study programme which is not only
accessible in terms of access and interaction to as many people as possible, but also at
the point of creation and thus accessible for teachers and course developers who, for
example, use assistive technologies (screen reading technology, magnification, voice
recognition, etc.).
A wide variety of software applications are available to create and host learning
materials, and many are seen as accessible. However, as the project progressed it
became obvious that the accessible tag was aimed at the end-user (the student), rather
than the course creator or administrator. The challenge for the project team has been to
identify a virtual learning environment that would enable people with disabilities,
particularly blind people, to fulfil a range of tasks rather than just using the system.
This included the ability to:
.
create their own accessible learning materials;
.
manage these materials and other learning objects; and
.
administer the system, including back end management.
After reviewing a variety of options, it became clear the Canadian system, ATutor[15],
was a good choice as it could not only be used to create accessible learning materials
for the end user, but could also be used at the point of creation by people with
disabilities. Project member Mario Batusic who is acting as the project technician and
is himself blind finds ATutor to be much more accessible from an administration
viewpoint in comparison to other commercial and open source systems.
ATutor is an open source web-based learning content management system (LCMS)
designed for accessibility and adaptability. It complies with the W3C WCAG 1.0
accessibility specifications at the AA level. Conformance with W3C XHTML 1.0
specifications ensures that ATutor is presented consistently in any standards
compliant technology. It has also adopted the IMS/SCORM Content Packaging
specifications[16], allowing content developers to create reusable content that can be
swapped between different e-learning systems. Content created in other IMS or
SCORM conformant systems can be imported into ATutor, and vice versa.
 AP Concluding remarks
62,1 The progress in making web sites accessible in Europe remains limited. Although
there is political recognition of the issues, as well as acceptance of internationally
agreed standards and guidelines, compliance remains poor even in those member
states that seek to legislate compliance.
The authors argue that education and training is key to building capacity and
68 competences to bring about the desired situation in the public sector, with attendant
benefits to the private sector and opportunities for employment. It is anticipated that
the web_access project will make a major contribution to the harmonisation and
internationalisation of education in this field.

Notes
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1. Available at: http://europa.eu.int/information_society/events/ict_riga_2006/doc/declaration_

riga.pdf
2. Available at: www.dfaei.org/objectives.html
3. Available at: www.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/infocomms/
4. Available at: www.shef.ac.uk/is/
5. Available at: www.dil.aber.ac.uk/en/home.asp
6. Available at: http://info.lut.ac.uk/departments/dils/
7. Available at: www.ionio.gr/central/en/university/
8. Available at: www.techdis.ac.uk
9. Available at: www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p 3_3/
10. Available at: www.netskills.ac.uk/content/products/workshops/
11. Available at: www.abilitynet.org.uk/athome_courses/
12. Available at: http://easi.cc/workshops/easiweb.htm
13. Available at: http://people.rit.edu/easi/easi/alleasi.htm
14. Available at: www.webaccess-project.net/
15. Available at: www.atutor.ca/
16. Available at: www.imsproject.org/

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Corresponding author
Jonathan Willson can be contacted at: j.p.willson@mmu.ac.uk

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