Profiling for Accessibility

Elaine Pearson & Voula Gkatzidoue.pearson@tees.ac.uk

s.gkatzidou@tees.ac.uk

Profiling for accessibility Diversity of learner needs:

– Alternative access systems– Content to be presented in different modalities

Profiling for accessibility is a complex issue– Learners with special needs require personalised access to e-

learning

Learning resources accessible to:– All learners, despite their individual needs and preferences

Meeting the diverse needs of learners requires a different approach to ‘universal’ accessibility.

The role of metadata for profiling(1)

Metadata is data which describes data, or information about information.

Metadata describe the nature and content of web and e-learning resources.

Metadata provide invisible descriptive information about resources, and can therefore be used to catalogue, describe, search for and locate resources.

The role of metadata for profiling(2) Provides information on the accessibility features of a

particular resource, such as audio content, subtitles, text transcripts, audio descriptions etc.

IMS AccessForAll Specifications

Accessibility for Learner Information Package (AccLIP)

- Describes the content needs and preferences of a user.

- Enables the description of user preferences in terms of visual, auditory and tactile components.

IMS AccLIP

Describes the user in terms of accessibility needs- XML-based syntax

Accessibility preferences- Display information

- decribes how information should be presented to user)

- Control information - defines how a user prefers to control the device)

- Content information - describes which enhanced, alternative or or equivalent

contents are required by the learner)

PAL (1)

PAL (2)

Example profiles (Persona A)

• George has low vision and has laptop for his course, which is fully equipped with a screen reader (Jaws) & a Braille embosser with refreshable Braille display, a combination of assistive technologies that enable him to interact with the programs he uses.

– He needs alternatives to visual content – Preference for screenreader when at home – Preference for Braille when on campus

Example profiles (Persona A) in AccLIP

In George’s home profile he expresses the preference for screenreader use instead of Braille.

In this example, the screen reader (specified to be Jaws) would be required to read any links it encounters, with a speech rate of 180 words per minute.

<accessForAll xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"><context identifier="Peter/Home" lang="en"><display> <screenReader> <screenReaderGeneric>  <application name="Jaws">

</application>  <link usage="preferred" value="speakLink" />   <speechRate usage="preferred" value="180" />   <pitch usage="preferred" value="0.5" />   <volume usage="preferred" value="1" />   </screenReaderGeneric>  </screenReader>  </display> <content><alternativesToVisual>

<audioDescription usage="preferred" type="expanded" lang="en" />   <altTextLang usage="preferred" lang="en" />   <longDescriptionLang usage="preferred" lang="en" />   </alternativesToVisual>  </content>  </context>  </accessForAll>

Example profiles (Persona A) in AccLIP

In George’s ‘classroom’ profile PAL expresses his preference for Braille by using the <braille> element and turning off the screen reader’s volume by using the preferences under the <screenReader> element.

In this example, he requires uncontracted Braille (Grade 1), where each cell has 8 dots, and his display has 80 cells in a row.

<accessForAll xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"><context identifier="Peter/Classroom" lang="en"><display> <screenReader> <screenReaderGeneric>  <usage="notUse" value="0" />   </screenReaderGeneric>  </screenReader> <braille>

<brailleGeneric>  <grade usage="preferred" value="1" />   <numDots usage="preferred" value="8" />   <numCells usage="preferred" value="80" />   <markHighlight usage="preferred" value="true" />   <markBold usage="preferred" value=" true" />   <markUnderline usage="preferred" value=" true" />   <markItalic usage="preferred" value=" true" />   <markStrikeout usage="preferred" value=" true" />   <markColor usage="preferred" value="false" />   <dotPressure usage="preferred" value="0.5" />   <statusCell usage="preferred" value="off" />   </brailleGeneric>  </braille></display>    </accessForAll>

Profiling Devices

Device capabilities and preferences for profiling devices need to be known– Allow client devices to inform servers of their

capabilities

RDF (Resource Description Framework) based profiles, recommended by the W3C– Composite Capabilities/Preference Profile (CC/PP)– User Agent Profile (UAProf)

Challenges

Explore methods to provide a more detailed learner profile in PAL and include:

- Device capabilities

- Learning Styles

- Cognitive Factors

- Previous knowledge/background

Integrate PAL within a learning environment

Resources PAL tool: http://arc.tees.ac.uk/pal

IMS AccLIP: http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/acclipv1p0/imsacclip_infov1p0.html

Web-4-All Tool: http://web4all.atrc.utoronto.ca/html/english/w4a_home_e.html

CC/PP Profile: http://www.w3.org/Mobile/CCPP/

UaProf Profile: http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/affiliates/wap/wap-248-uaprof-20011020-a.pdf

Gkatzidou, S. & Pearson, E. (2009). A Transformation, Augmentation, Substitution Service (TASS) to Meet the Needs and Preferences of the Individual Learner. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT). Riga, Latvia.

Salomoni, P., Mirri, S., Ferretti, S. & Rocetti, M. (2007). Profiling Learners with Special Needs for Custom e-Learning Experiences, a Closed Case? Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A). Banff, Canada.