CSUN 2019: The Potential of OERs for Students with Disabilities

Date
Friday, March 15, 2019

Time
8:00AM – 9:30AM PST

Location

CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, Anaheim, CA

Presenters

Jose Blackorby and Tracy Gray, AIR

Presentation

Slides: CSUN 2019: The Potential of OERs for Students with Disabilities

Description

In this session, we will provide an overview of the CISL project, the research base and the design-based iterative process of design that is contributing to the development of a reading tool, an authoring platform, and a learner discovery experience, the CISL reader. 

How students interact with digital materials is a foundation of accessibility, and requires flexible, adaptable materials. OERs complement traditional learning materials, however, many remain inaccessible for students with disabilities. We will demonstrate how to ensure OERs are accessible for all learners.

On the authoring or creation side, the need is clear. Content creators need better tools that enable & encourage a11y, supports, interactivity. The CISL project is working with ISKME and OER Commons to embed accessibility checks and an epub export format into OpenAuthor to build awareness of accessibility and flexibility when creating digital learning materials. 

For students, the CISL project wants to add a third piece that doesn’t really exist now: a Preferences discovery experience. In addition, the project is researching ways to store preferences that work across multiple sites, apps - GPII  (global public inclusive infrastructure)

How are we going to get to this comprehensive vision of creating a flexible reader, accessible, flexible content, and a discovery experience that highlights learner preferences and carries those preferences wherever students learn? We want your thoughts on this and more.