Appears in: IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Pages: 680-686
Publication year: 2014
Conference: IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON 2014) 
Dates: 3-5 April
Location:Istambul, Turkey

Cite

Calle-Jimenez, Tania; Sanchez-Gordon, Sandra; Luján-Mora, Sergio. Web Accessibility Evaluation of Massive Open Online Courses on Geographical Information Systems, IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON 2014), pp. 680-686, Istambul (Turkey), April 3-5, 2014. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2014.6826167

Abstract

This paper describes some of the challenges that exist to make accessible massive open online courses (MOOCs) on Geographical Information Systems (GIS). These courses are known by the generic name of Geo-MOOCs. A MOOC is an online course that is open to the general public for free, which causes a massive registration. A GIS is a computer application that acquire, manipulate, manage, model and visualize geo-referenced data. The goal of a Geo-MOOC is to expand the culture of spatial thinking and the use of geographic information, enabling geospatial web technologies for widespread use. However, the Geo-MOOCs, by nature, have inherent problems of accessibility. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 24, recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. States Parties must ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. Therefore, it is important to have accessible Geo-MOOCs. In this paper, we present the results of the evaluation of a Geo-MOOC called “Maps and the Geospatial Revolution” using three tools available for free on the Internet: Chrome Developer Tools – Accessibility Audit, eXaminator and WAVE; and included a selection of web content and geographical data representative of the course. This provided feedback for establishing recommendations to improve the accessibility of the analyzed course. Other Geo-MOOCs can also benefit from these recommendations.

Keywords

Geographical Information Systems; Massive Open Online Courses; Geo-MOOC; Web Accessibility; Automatic Accessibility Evaluation Tools.

Acknowledgement

This work has been partially supported by the Prometeo  Project by SENESCYT, Ecuadorian Government.

References

[1]     United Nations, “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol”, pp. 16-18, 2008.

[2]     J. Carter and M. Marker, “Web accessibility for people with disabilities: an introduction for Web developers”, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, vol. 44 (4), pp. 225-233, 2001.

[3]     S. Burgstahler, “Real connections: Making distance learning accessible to everyone”, 2002. Available online:
http://www3.cac.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/PDF/distance.learn.pdf

[4]     G. Farrelly, “Practitioner barriers to diffusion and implementation of web accessibility”, Technology and Disability, vol. 23 (4), pp. 223-232, 2011.

[5]     J. Kay, P. Riemann, E. Diebold and B. Kummerfeld, “MOOCs: So Many Learners, So Much Pot ential”, IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 28 (3), pp. 70-77, 2013.

[6]     A. Schutzberg, “Building the World’s First Geo-MOOC: An Interview with Penn State’s Anthony Robinson”, 2013. Available online: http://www.directionsmag.com/podcasts/building-the-worlds-first-geo-mooc-an-interview-with-penn-states-antho/311753

[7]     J. Wooseob, “Spatial perception of blind people by auditory maps on a tablet PC”, Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol. 44 (1), pp 1–8, 2008.

[8]     W3C, “Introduction to Web Accessibility”, 2012. Available online: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php

[9]     W3C, “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.”, 2008. Available online:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

[10]  M. Vigo, J. Brown, and V. Conway., “Benchmarking web accessibility evaluation tools: measuring the harm of sole reliance on automated tests”, Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility, 2013.

[11]  K. Grooves,  “Choosing an Automated Accessibility Testing Tool: 13 Questions you  should ask”, 2013. Available online:
http://www.karlgroves.com/2013/06/28/choosing-an-automated-accessibility-testing-tool-13-questions-you-should-ask/

[12]  Coursera, “Maps and the Geospatial Revolution”, 2014. Available online:https://class.coursera.org/maps-001/class

[13]  E. Velleman, and C. Strobbeet, “Unified Web Evaluation Methodology (UWEM)”. Technical Report WAB Cluster, 2006.

[14]  M. Vigo, M. Arrue, G. Brajnik, R. Lomuscio, and J. Abascal, “Quantitative metrics for measuring web accessibility”, Proceedings of International Cross-disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility, pp 99-107, 2007.

[15]  W3C, “WAI-ARIA Overview”, 2014. Available online:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria

[16]  Google, “Accessibility Developer Tools”, 2012. Available online:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/accessibility-developer-t/fpkknkljclfencbdbgkenhalefipecmb?hl=en

[17]  WebAIM, “Web Accessibility evaluation Tool.”, 2012. Available online:
http://wave.webaim.org

[18]  Benavidez, C., “Automatic Evaluation of Accessibility”, 2014. Available online:
http://examinator.ws/

[19]  ESRI, “ArcGIS Online”, 2014. Avaliable online: http://epn1.maps.arcgis.com/