What is web accessibility in learning?

Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web.” (W3C, 2005).

The W3C includes the following types of disabilities in its consideration of designing for accessibility: Visual disability,

• Hearing Impairment
• Physical (motor) Disability
• Speech Disability
• Cognitive and Neurological Disability (including learning disability and seizure disorders, for example), multiple disabilities, and aging-related conditions (W3C, 2005).

The Development efforts for accessible Learning Products should focus on these low-incidence disabilities.

The four accessibility features described below comprise the foundation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA. Ideally, a learning product design should include these features to provide a complete experience for students with vision impairments.

1. Users can navigate the content using only the keyboard. Users of mobile devices can navigate using the touch screen in screen-reader-mode.
2. The content and structure can be understood by a person using a screen reader like NVDA, JAWS, iOS Voiceover, Android Talkback and Chromevox on Chromebooks.
3. Text equivalents for all non-text media. This includes captions for video, audio transcripts, and alternative descriptions for images, animations, and videos.
4. All visual presentations follow the WCAG 2.0 AA visual guidelines.

Here are some examples of accessible content created by Magic Software:

Color Contrast

http://magicwebs.magicsw.com/seg/DLOSamples/Mathematics2/index.html

Drag and Drop, Access Keys

https://dev.opera.com/articles/accessible-drag-and-drop/example.html

Access Keys, Closed Captioning

http://accessiblewebsitedesignexamples.com/accessible-gallery.php#content

Video Captioning

http://magicwebs.magicsw.com/seg/accessibilitysamples/videos/5_6_1_am1/5_6_1_am1.html

Accessibility Solutions

It is now a requirement for digital education products to be accessible or WCAG compliant. The online learning world is focussing on learning opportunities for all, and focussing on students with disabilities. Technology has opened many doors in all spheres of life, and education should make maximum use of its capacity to teach as effectively as possible.

Individuals with physical disabilities need a customized type of environment where they can gather knowledge at their own speed. They need a congenial environment where they can interact or engage with the educator in a comfortable way and find out how they are doing. And this is the scenario where accessibility solutions come as a great boon to them. They offer them the right platform to pursue their academic courses and enhance their knowledge.
Ideally, a Learning Product design should include these features to provide a complete experience for students with vision impairments.

1. Users can navigate the content using only the keyboard. Users of mobile devices can navigate using the touch screen in screen-reader-mode.
2. The content and structure can be understood by a person using a screen reader like NVDA, JAWS, iOS Voiceover, Android Talkback and Chromevox on Chromebooks.
3. Text equivalents for all non-text media. This includes captions for video, audio transcripts, and alternative descriptions for images, animations, and videos.
4. All visual presentations follow the WCAG 2.0 AA visual guidelines.

Magic Software employs the best authors, instructional designers, and UX designers in the world and many of them are familiar with the principles of Universal Design for Learning. These authors and designers may decide to apply UDL when creating content and products, or they may decide to go in another direction.

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How to make your eLearning content interactive?

Interactive Content Development encapsulates of multiple learning methods. While thinking of interactive content, the first thing that comes to one’s mind is that the content should itself be self-explanatory and interact with the learner. Often, many E-Learning courses fall short of the expectations of interactive content and fail to convey the right messaging. In such cases, subject experts are needed while teaching anything, especially while teaching STEM.

How can you make your eLearning courses interactive?

Courses can be made interactive by adding games, diagrams, animations, and another kind of digital learning objects. Using virtual reality is also an instrumental way of teaching the student with the help of real-time examples. Interactive courses need to talk to the learner and explain the curriculum in the most effective manner.

Assessments

Interactive content should consist of courses that the learner can take after studying about a certain subject. There should be multiple explanations should the student get stuck at a particular part. The learner should feel like he/she is reading a story. These elements will enhance learners’ engagement and keep them coming back for more information and knowledge. Integrating quizzes and assessments at the end of the module or lesson will permit the eLearning content creators to access the effectiveness of the eLearning course with the help analytics. It then helps them determine the progress of the learner and the pain of points of the learner.

Interactive content should have a flavor of games, quizzes, videos, images, and other elements. Analytics and learning go hand in hand, as without knowing the progress of the learner, one can never determine the actual length and breadth of learning.

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Mobile distribution platforms open new business avenues for publishers

Content should now be available across devices. Most of the students learn on multiple devices, and it’s important for them to have their content online. Publishers are slowly moving away from print and going into digital formats of education- eBooks being the most common one. EBooks can be viewed in multiple formats and are accessible anytime and anywhere.

Digital publishing platforms enable publishers to convert a simple PDF into an ePUB3. These eBooks consist of interactive content, assessments, annotations, and other interactivities to encourage the most efficient form of learning. The formats that are used today are mostly ePUB3 and HTML5. These formats are usually constant and therefore have no problem downloading on any device.

While interactive eBooks still stay at the forefront, educational publishers are taking help of mobile distribution platforms to develop, manage, and sell their content. The mobile distribution platforms are stuffed with a lot of features to help publishers create digital copy of their content with the necessary licenses. Using these platforms, publishers deliver their content to schools on devices in the mandated environments. One of the most important things for a publisher is analytics of the content. Publishers want to know what part of their content is being used effectively and what part isn’t.

In order to develop ideal mobile learning solutions, it is important to have the best technology partner. UI/UX is extremely important and need to be kept in mind at all times while creating digital content. The learner should be able to access the content easily, and navigate without any trouble.

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Transformation in Education

Over the past few years, teaching and learning have changed drastically. Whereas, earlier the method was of learning only what the teacher taught with the help of textbooks. The revolution of change has come about with the evolution of the internet and innovations to support digital learning with the help of interactive content. Now, not only can you study on your computer, you can study or your tablet, and even your phone.

The trend now is to study everything online and find various course materials to support that learning. One can’t make do with just the use of textbooks, and multiple teaching materials are required to study. They are getting more involved with interactive content development to make content crisp, simple and interactive. Interactive content development helps in the accessibility of content, by choosing the format the learner wants to use.  The learner can choose to watch a video, read about the subject, and even perform an experiment online rather than having to go to a physical lab. Virtual Labs are the new wave in learning and are being used widely.

One can decide to make almost any kind of content interactive, in any language or subject. Interactivity is the key to effective learning.

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eLearning is instrumental in the process of education

Today eLearning is playing a major role in education.  There are many players in the education sector who are using blended learning, which entails print and online courses for effective learning. They have adopted interactive content development to make courses resonate with a broad range of audiences.

Interactive content development enables learners to interact with data and draw meaningful conclusions. It encapsulates multiple learning mediums such as games, assessments, diagrams that enable the learner to engage with the content on-the-go.

As a content developer, you need to develop courses that are meet the end results of information absorption. Each course should be divided in difficulty levels followed by assessments, and some interactive learning, which keeps the students engaged. The courses and assessments should be followed by case studies that the students can relate to. The learner should feel confident in advancing to the next level once they have completed a chapter or a module. Assessments, self-evaluation, and feedback in online courses are strong pillars in learning and development. Self-evaluation and self-analysis are the best ways to make learners realize their strengths.

Thus, interactive content development is instrumental in eLearning and helps the student understand better.

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Digital publishing platforms fosters digital learning

Digital commerce touches a number of industries today and exciting things are happening in the world of publishing, especially in education publishing. The education publishers are adopting new techniques to create, publish, sell and circulate content. They are taking help of technology-based agencies like Magic Software to leverage exciting technological opportunities like digital publishing platforms and more. Tech-savvy students find these innovations more engaging and useful.  They like to invest their time and energy in educational materials that they can access with much ease. With these evolving technologies, they are able to access information and data any time without the constraints of time and location.

Education publishers are taking the assistance of digital publishing platforms to develop interactive content for their users. Textbooks with interactive content give the learners the power to gather information at their ease.  The digital publishing platforms allow publishers to collect, organize and index content they publish. The analytics allow them to gaze the performance of their content.

Magic Software, a leading educational technology company keeps on bringing innovative solutions to foster, optimize and enhance digital learning. They have developed innovative solutions and products including digital publishing platforms.

For more info visit: www.magicsw.com