The issue of accessibility in online learning has been waiting for attention. Until recently, however, the urgency for action has been largely absent or deferred. Intentions were good, but few formal implementation deadlines demanded immediate action. The passage of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act in 2005 led to the 2008 b adoption of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The Ontario Government has set a time limit of 1 January 2021 for compliance with this standard. This presentation will consider the changing concept of disability and accessibility in online learning. It will then provide a case study of Tyndale University College Seminary in Ontario, Canada, as it prepares to implement accessibility requirements for the 2021 deadline. Recorded and aired on Friday, January 26, 2018. The audio below plays the entire webinar with the Q/A session at the end. The YouTube video provides a subtitled, visual background to the 30-minute presentation embedded within the audio.

Some resources from Ben Watson of the Faith-Based Online Learning Directors:

Screen Readers:
JAWS for Windows and NVDA for Windows
VoiceOver for both the iPhone and iPad.
Reading Apps (all for the iPhone and iPad)
Voice Dream Reader
Kindle
IBooks
Nook
Easy Reader
Pocket
Bard Mobile. This is the application from the National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the US. BARD stands for Braille and Audio Reading Download. Both audio and braille books can be accessed on the app
For reading the classics LibriVox or Audio Books Headquarters both work well.
Overdrive, an app used by libraries across the country.
App from Learning Ally. They have 75,000 mostly textbooks that have been recorded for blind and people with other learning disabilities that listening to a book can help.
Audible should be mentioned, very accessible in both Windows and IOS.
Apple’s news app for news and their podcast app for listening to podcasts.
Writing:
MicroSoft Office is very accessible.
Word processing app called Voice Dream Writer.
For blogging, Byword.
Research:
Everybody’s favorite Google app works well in both Windows and IOS and the Wikipedia app works well in IOS.

Dr. Lawrence Hopperton is the Director of Distributed Learning at Tyndale University College and Seminary. He was formerly the Director of Research for the Canadian TeleLearning National Centre of Excellence and Senior Instructional Designer for the Canadian Centre of Excellence for Refugee and Immigrant Studies.