Improving Web Accessibility with Accessible Learning Labs

Author(s):
Su Thit Thazin
Student research assistant
Rochester Institute of Technology

Approximately 15-20% of the world’s population has a form of disability. Unfortunately, much of the software being created today is not being created in an accessible manner for all users. To compound this problem, there is a lack of experiential educational material that instructors and workplace trainers may use to educate developers on this imperative topic. To address this limitation in accessibility education and training, we have created five educational accessibility labs that are collectively referred to as the Accessible Learning Labs (ALL). These labs have the primary goals of both demonstrating the need to create accessible software and providing participants with foundational technical concepts on how to create accessible software. The labs have been systematically designed to easily integrate into a wide variety of learning scenarios, affording them the ability to positively impact a range of learners. Lab activities and materials require only an internet connection and web browser for usage, making adoption easy for participants, instructors, and individual learners. Created labs and project materials are publicly available on the project website: https://all.rit.edu

Coauthors