D4.3.5

=Accessibility support requirements are formally addressed in e-learning technology purchase procedures. =

Evidence
Seale (2006) outlines the role that senior management needs to take in ensuring accessible e-learning. Accessibility procurement procedures must be developed as well as institutional accessibility policy. She then explains what we mean by an accessibility policy, what should be included in one and offers guidance on implantation.

Sloan & Walker (2008) recognize is that accessibility concerns tend to focus on the output of learning material authoring, rather than the quality of the authoring process. Some issues to do with the design software itself may limit the ability of authors to produce accessible content. Accessible authoring as a concept is important. These authors emphasize the need for proactive rather than reactive measures.

Sloan & Walker (2008) explain the standard tripartite approach to creating a truly accessible web. This involves adherence to the WCAG-conformant content, created using ATAG-conformant authoring tools, accessed using WAAG-conformant browsing technology. However, they then argue that there are problems with this approach, one is that there is a scarcity of authoring tools that meet the ATAG guidelines. The importance of appropriate authoring tools is mainly due to the fact that increasingly authors are not dedicated web professionals. This places responsibility on web content authoring tools to ensure that all authors can easily create content that is as accessible as possible.

Kelly et al. (2007) argue that accessibility should be enhanced through ‘a user-focused approach, which embeds best practices through the development of achievable policies and processes and which includes all stakeholders in the process of maximizing accessibility’ (p. 1). They further argue that the standard tripartite W3C WAI model is flawed. This is because of the open-ended flexibility that users have in their choice of browsing and assistive technology. The claim is that evidence is lacking to demonstrate that the guidelines (particularly WCAG) will lead to resources that are usable by people with disabilities. Kelly et al. cite evidence that some web sites that are highly conformant to WCAG are the ones that disabled users find hardest to use.