WebCT

The SNOW project, Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of
Toronto, has been using WebCT to deliver distance education courses and
online workshops for educators. As advocates for accessible web design,
we too were very concerned about the some of the inaccessible
components  of WebCT.  We have developed several strategies for
modifying the framework, focussing on essential components such as
bulletin boards, navigation and table of contents, for which duplicate
accessible tools have been developed. To see a demo of this, visit one
of our courses at:

http://snow.utoronto.ca:1800/SCRIPT/Access/scripts/serve_home

login:  guest
password: guest

We have written our own CGI for the bulletin board, created a duplicate
navigation system, and a frames-free site index.

We acknowledge that other course functions may not be accessible to some
users, and have grouped these on a Student Tools page and Content pages
button bar, rather that being deleted. We have decided to include these
"features" of the WebCT server software, as their inclusion serves as a
showcase for the difficulties educators face in creating accessible
curriculum. Our search for development tools which consistently provide
accessible formats has not located any satisfactory courseware programs.
We are currently reviewing courseware tools to evaluate their
accessibility, and are pursuing funding to work on development of
accessible courseware, our goal being integration of accessibility
features at a grassroots level.

Let me know if you want further details.

--
Laurie Harrison
Resource Coordinator
Centre for Academic and Adaptive Technology, Information Commons
University of Toronto

laurie.harrison@utoronto.ca
(416) 946-3778

Received on Monday, 18 January 1999 11:24:32 UTC