Analysis of massive open online courses on web accessibility
The article discusses the results of the analysis of massive open online courses (MOOCs) on web accessibility and web accessibility in e-learning. Using the search by keywords in four MOOC aggregators and total browsing of the four Russian-language online education platforms, 38 free and 28 paid courses on the research topic were allocated. The only one course in Russian — “Web accessibility in e-learning” (Stepik platform) was detected. The following positions presented on MOOCs’ promo pages were analyzed: platform, author, target audience, duration of training, access (open / closed), cost, student’s achievement document (certificate / badge / other); training mode (independently / with instructor / other); prerequisites (starting skills). An average MOOC “portrait” in the field of web accessibility has been formed: target audience — web developers/web designers (45 % of MOOCs) or developers/teachers of online courses (24 %); prerequisites — not required (76 %); achievement document — certificate for an additional fee (55 %); platform — Coursera (26 %), Canvas (24 %) and EdX (21 %). The content of the nine MOOCs available for study was analyzed in detail. It was shown, that the content of MOOCs on the web accessibility in e-learning can vary and have different depth depending on the target audience of students, but it must include: concepts of web accessibility and universal design in learning and related WCAG guidelines; web content accessibility assessment methods; methods for developing accessible online materials.