A 15 Factor and 157 Item Checklist for Assessing Website Usability and Accessibility

Website assessment is still a very much ill-defined practice, conducted by some and largely ignored by most. Instruments to help assess and measure the usability of websites are vital in ensuring that websites not only meet their intended purpose but are also usable and accessible. This chapter presents a checklist comprised of 15 factors and 157 items matured over years that are rooted in cognitive psychology, instructional design, computer science, but most importantly, human-computer interface study, which can be used to guide researchers and practitioners in assessing the usability and accessibility of website design.

From Barriers to Beginnings

The ubiquity of new media in the lives of young people with high-incidence disabilities raises two important questions: how can new media be used as Assistive Technology (AT) and what can new media offer that other technologies may not? This chapter attempts to answer these questions by discussing the shifting and dynamic barriers to making this transition while also illuminating convergences between the goals of new media and AT. While this chapter explicitly concentrates on opportunities within the classroom, educators can also employ the guidelines provided herein generally in out-of-school contexts. Barriers to be discussed include electronic curb cuts and aggressive Internet filters. After discussing such barriers, solutions, including some classroom protocols and a list of resources, are shared to help educators evaluate new media as well as in the integration of new and old media as AT.

Simulation Games as Interventions in the Promotion of Social Skills Development among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

It has been suggested that game technology can be successfully used to aid in social skills development among those with special needs. Based on the body of research available, such technology has been used in social skills development with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Furthermore, there is research to suggest that certain game technology, such as simulation-based games, can enhance learning and the retention of knowledge, which is of important benefit, given children with ASD show great difficulty in generalizing newly learned skills and knowledge from the instructional to the functional setting. However, at the time of this publication, very little empirical evidence exists that has specifically investigated the use of simulation-based games as interventions in the promotion of social skill development among children with ASD.

A Phatic Approach to Assistive and Augmentative Communications Vocabularies

Users of Assistive and Augmentative Communications (AAC) systems sometimes have difficulty: (a) participating in conversation outside of a script they already know, (b) repairing a derailed conversation, or (c) engaging in the quick and varied banter demanded of many social situations. This chapter presents tools being developed to remedy these challenges, and the “phatic” approach on which they are based. In contrast to most AAC vocabularies, phatic vocabularies are characterized by providing a variety of expressions for the same meme. In addition, vocabularies developed via a phatic approach may use language to convey gesture, affirmation, or emotive support as much as or more than to convey wants, needs, or narrative. The intent of this chapter is not to argue for the replacement of standard AAC vocabularies, but instead to show how phatic vocabularies, through the use of tools, can be successfully used to enhance a user’s language development, particularly social language and social development, by creating vocabularies that encourage a user to engage in social settings.

Helping Struggling Writers

Assistive Technology (AT), in the domain of special education, is defined as both tools and services. This chapter provides a description of this definition, what recent national and international writing assessment results indicate, what the characteristics of struggling writers are, and how AT can help these children improve and manage the complex and interdependent task of creating prose, story writing in particular. Key examples of AT services are Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD: a step-by-step process for teaching a student a strategy) and mnemonic strategies (the use of keywords to help a child retain the steps in managing a task such as story writing). In the context of writing, AT can range from a pencil grip to a complete computer system with writing-assistance software. Furthermore, the author reviews his own research studies about story writing and how integral AT is to helping these children. Finally, the need for students’ pre-requisite practice with AT is emphasized.

Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Diverse Educational Environments

Learning can be difficult for a myriad of reasons and not just for those with disabilities and for those dedicated to teaching in its many forms. It can be next to impossible to accommodate the variety of students encountered in today’s diverse learning environments. This is where the principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be successfully applied. This chapter explores the strides made in creating content that brain-based research supports as a way for not only motivating students to learn, but also for allowing those with disabilities a way to learn that meets their specific needs. Although there is no one surefire way to design learning that teaches everyone, UDL is a stepping-stone to that pursuit. If implemented to its fullest potential, it can be a panacea to reducing many barriers to access and learning.

Assistive Technology and Distance Learning

For those with disabilities, distance-learning courses can provide access to a world that was once inaccessible. Online learning becomes a possibility and for many a gateway to contributing to the world around them. However, there are many points to consider when ensuring accessibility in distance-learning courses. By exploring the current research and trends, this chapter reviews learning management systems, learner interaction styles and tools, and methods to design accessible course materials. It provides the educator with not only a working vocabulary but also with strategies and implementation methods for ensuring accessible content in online learning.

Engaging in Play through Assistive Technology

The importance of play for all infants and toddlers should not be underestimated. However, owing to barriers and tensions in Assistive Technology (AT) in early intervention, opportunities are often limited for infants and toddlers with special needs to play, and where early intervention exists, it is slow to develop with AT. This chapter first discusses the importance of play and then draws attention to some issues and tensions that limit play and AT in early intervention for infants and toddlers with special needs. It then discusses how crucial it is to explore the potential of play for infants and toddlers with disabilities and gives research and practice-based suggestions to enact the spirit of the law: the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA): Part C – Early Intervention program for infants and toddlers using AT. It concludes with some thoughts for the future of AT through research, early intervention play-based practices, and on-going education and development of early intervention providers and parents of infants and toddlers with special needs.

A Step toward Assistive Technology Evidence-Based Practices

In an attempt to meet the need for validation research that contributes to Assistive Technology (AT) evidence-based practices, this chapter presents the findings of a study aimed to identify latent dimensions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that can serve as the basis for the eventual development of a standardized instrument for ICT assessment and selection in the context of AT. The ICT preferences and practices of 1,258 postsecondary students across 7 major universities were examined. A confirmatory factor analysis within the framework of structure equation modeling revealed the 5 latent dimensions: communicating, socializing, downloading and sharing, gaming, and learning. These dimensions examined in the context of age, gender, and income, further reveal that these demographics, as sole determinants of ICT usage, are not supported. Noteworthy findings were also found with regard to participant’s preferences for ICT, to include a tendency to text over all other technologies surveyed.

Creating Protective Barriers for Students with Disabilities in E-Learning Environments

As corporations and organizations continue to make strides in employing people with disabilities, in part, as an act of social responsibility, other entities have started to realize the need and value of this untapped human resource. Studies have shown that employees with disabilities have low turnover rates, low absenteeism, and high motivation to prove themselves. In today’s workplace, many organizations will need to rethink their employment practices in order to compete for employees from the current, shrinking workforce. Thus, these employers are now looking towards academic institutions for well-qualified candidates. The key question here is whether academic institutions and educators are prepared to enable, educate, protect, and motivate learners with and without disabilities for changes in the workforce. One way that academia is helping to break down barriers to education is through the incorporation of online learning, or “e-learning.” Whereas barriers to education for people with disabilities have traditionally taken the form of architectural and attitudinal impediments, e-learning may help mitigate such barriers, equalizing the learning environment for all students.