Archive | 2021
Digital and Web Content Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities: A case study of Indian open universities
Abstract
\n The radical development of internet and other Information and Communication Technologies have changed the scenario of education system in general and open and distance learning in particular which was further accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools now a days are pivotal to any Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system. With the growth of ICT based education the issue of accessibility of digital information has also gained the attention of intelligentsia. With the interference of ICT tools, discussions have been taking place about the digital accessibility of web-based information available over websites. Websites of Open Universities are central source of educational and administrative information and learning for a learner enrolled in open and distance learning system. Further the basic promise of an open and distance learning system is providing education for marginalized group too and thus it must be as per the needs of persons with disabilities which has been recommended by United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). An enquiry has been made in present research to study primary accessibility features Screen Reader Access, High Contrast Text, Word Spacing, Text Resize feature and the feature of language change available over websites of Indian Open Universities. It was observed that about 45% of Indian Open University websites lacks any such accessibility features. Remaining 55% open universities of India, mostly were found providing two to four out of these five accessibility mechanisms required for persons with disabilities on any website. As Government of India has developed Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) which has advised government institutions to confirm their websites in compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) guidelines of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at ‘AA’ level. The preliminary study revealed that Indian Open Universities has long way to go to make their websites GIGW & WCAG 2.0 complaint in order to ensure digital accessibility in higher education through open and distance learning for persons with disabilities to ensure inclusion in higher education in India.