Accessible e-learning experience for PWDs-Best Practices | IGF 2023 WS #350

Swaran Ravindra

The analysis highlights several issues regarding disability rights and inclusivity. It points out that there is no national policy for disability in Tobago, and in Fiji, the 2018 Act does not specifically outline what provisions should be in place for persons with disabilities or how to implement them. One area that is particularly neglected in the Pacific is accessible websites, which are considered necessary provisions for persons with disabilities. This lack of explicit provisions for the rights and accessibility of persons with disabilities in national policies and legislation is seen as a negative sentiment.

On the other hand, there is a positive sentiment towards inclusion as a basic fundamental human right. Swaran, a speaker in the analysis, emphasizes the importance of inclusion in her speeches and believes that all citizens should have access to various services regardless of their disabilities. She also advocates for the use of existing legal instruments such as the ‘Education Act’ to support disability rights in the absence of specific national policies. This perspective reflects a belief in the positive impact that inclusion can have on reducing inequalities.

Consistent support systems for persons with disabilities are called for, even in the absence of a national policy for disability. This notion is seen as a positive sentiment, highlighting the significance of providing continuous support to individuals with disabilities.

The analysis also acknowledges that legislation alone is insufficient to ensure inclusivity. It notes that legislation sometimes contradicts itself, and there is a need to reconcile these gaps between constitutional rights and legislation to ensure inclusivity. This observation is seen as a negative sentiment, pointing out that legislative measures must be comprehensive and consistent to promote inclusivity effectively.

Cultural norms are identified as a factor that can present obstacles to inclusivity. The analysis mentions instances where parents refuse to acknowledge their child’s disability, highlighting the stigma around disabilities that needs to be overcome. This is seen as another negative sentiment, suggesting that cultural attitudes must change to foster inclusivity.

Constitutional rights are noted as a means to protect and promote inclusivity. The analysis provides examples of disabled individuals exercising their right to attend classes, highlighting the potential impact of these rights in promoting inclusivity. This observation brings a positive sentiment to the importance of constitutional rights in advancing inclusivity.

In the context of education, the analysis emphasizes the need for inclusion to be integrated into everyday practice in educational institutions. The mention of AFINI, an ISO certified organization that upholds high standards of inclusivity, and professors creating tertiary level education courses for disabled individuals, reflects a positive sentiment towards the efforts being made to ensure inclusivity in educational settings.

The analysis also touches upon the obstacles towards inclusivity in online learning. It argues that students should not be penalized for the extra time they require to log into the system. This viewpoint is seen as a negative sentiment, highlighting the need for fair assessment practices in online learning.

Regarding authentication methods, the analysis acknowledges the existence of more secure methods such as thumb trains, tongue scans, retina scans, face recognition, and retina recognition. It argues that these methods are easier for users and reflects a positive sentiment towards the implementation of these authentication methods.

On the other hand, there is a negative sentiment towards the imposition of difficult types of authentication methods, which could act as a deterrent for students to return to class.

The analysis also addresses the important topic of digital inclusion. It suggests the need for affirmative action and proper measurement and assessment tools to address digital inclusion effectively. It mentions the use of disparity measurement, the implementation of the WCAG 1.0 standard, and UNESCO’s Romex Indicators in Pacific island nations. This observation highlights the positive sentiment towards the need for affirmative action and the adoption of proper tools to achieve digital inclusion.

In conclusion, the analysis brings to light various issues related to disability rights and inclusivity. It highlights the lack of explicit provisions in national policies and legislation, but also emphasizes the positive sentiment towards inclusion as a fundamental human right. It underscores the importance of consistent support systems and the impact of cultural norms and legislative gaps on inclusivity. Additionally, it calls for fair assessment practices in online learning and explores the implementation of secure authentication methods. Moreover, the analysis draws attention to the need for affirmative action and proper measurement and assessment tools to address digital inclusion effectively.

Vidya

The accessibility issues in e-learning platforms pose substantial challenges for people with disabilities. These challenges include problems such as unlabeled buttons, inaccessible content, and inaccessible PDFs. Vidya, who has personal experience navigating these platforms, suggests that involving users with disabilities in the development process of e-learning platforms is crucial. This involvement should include providing digital literacy training and ongoing support to ensure that these platforms are genuinely accessible to all.

Furthermore, STEM education presents additional accessibility challenges for individuals with disabilities. Screen readers often struggle to interpret mathematical equations, and much of the educational content is written from the perspective of someone with sight, making it more difficult for those without sight to understand. This creates a barrier to the effective participation of individuals with disabilities in STEM subjects.

The shift to digital learning during the pandemic was not seamless for many students and teachers, especially those with disabilities. In India, where Vidya is based, teachers and students with disabilities faced difficulties adapting to digital platforms. To help them, Vidya had to create digital literacy tutorials in multiple languages. This highlights the need for greater support and accommodations for individuals with disabilities during times of crisis.

To address the issue of accessibility and inclusivity in education, India is in the process of introducing a National Educational Policy. The aim of this policy is to promote greater inclusion by shifting towards inclusive education from special schools and a segregated education system for the visually impaired. However, the full implementation of this policy is still pending, as it requires time and coordination among different states.

Regarding special education, Vidya emphasizes the need for a central authority to ensure consistency across different states. Currently, policies for special education vary from state to state, resulting in inconsistencies and gaps in support.

While the government has made efforts to make their websites accessible, there is still work to be done in this area. Although progress has been made, there is a need for continued efforts to fully address website accessibility.

In terms of administrative departments responsible for education, accessibility and awareness vary based on the specific department. Education for persons with disabilities is sometimes overseen by the Department of Social Justice or the Department of Education, leading to variations in support and accessibility.

Cultural norms and stigma also act as barriers to digital platform access for disabled people. Vidya highlights the case of a blind woman who has been confined indoors due to cultural norms and stigma. Overcoming these barriers requires not only technological solutions but also the promotion of social acceptance and understanding.

Vidya believes that continuous support and social acceptance are essential for the effective use of e-learning platforms by individuals with disabilities. She stresses that the responsibility lies with the government and organizations to ensure the long-term usability and accessibility of digital tools.

Notably, children with disabilities have the potential to learn and compete effectively with their peers if provided with the necessary support and tools from an early age. Introducing technologies like computers and braille to children at a young age can significantly enhance their learning experience and future educational prospects.

Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in bridging the gap between the government and the ground realities of education for children with disabilities. Their firsthand experience in the field enables them to provide valuable guidance to the government in shaping policies and internet regulations that facilitate the access to education for individuals with disabilities.

Finally, collaboration within the internet community can contribute to making education more accessible for children with disabilities. By creating forums where experts can share thoughts, ideas, and network, meaningful progress can be made in addressing accessibility challenges. Collaboration is vital, as the efforts of a single person or organization alone may not be sufficient to solve the complex issues at hand.

In conclusion, the accessibility issues in e-learning platforms pose significant challenges for people with disabilities. It is essential to involve users with disabilities in the development process, provide ongoing support, and ensure digital literacy training to make these platforms truly accessible. STEM education, the shift to digital learning during the pandemic, and the need for a central authority in special education further highlight the importance of addressing accessibility and inclusivity issues. The government, nonprofit organizations, and the internet community all have essential roles to play in making education more accessible to children with disabilities.

Anna

Anna, who works in a child’s rights organisation, puts forward a compelling argument for involving more persons with disabilities in the design of platforms that promote accessibility. She firmly believes that accessibility should be guaranteed right from the design phase, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for everyone. This argument aligns with the goals of SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and SDG 4: Quality Education.

Anna’s argument is supported by her first-hand experience in the field, where she has witnessed the positive impact of involving persons with disabilities in the design process. By incorporating their perspectives and insights, the resulting platforms are more likely to meet the needs of people with disabilities and promote equality. Anna’s staunch belief in the rights of every individual to have equal opportunities, regardless of their abilities, drives her passion for ensuring accessibility.

Moreover, the second speaker highlights the crucial role that civil society plays in championing children’s rights. They emphasize how civil society organisations play a vital role in advocating for the rights and well-being of children. Anna, who is from Brazil and also works for a child’s rights organisation, supports this view and agrees that civil society has the power to bring about positive change. This argument aligns with the goals of SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

Anna’s endorsement of the role of civil society stems from her experiences in Brazil, where she has witnessed the impact of civil society organisations in advancing children’s rights. These organisations provide crucial support, raise awareness, and advocate for policies that protect and promote the well-being of children. Their efforts contribute to the overarching goal of achieving a more just and equitable society.

In conclusion, both speakers emphasize the significance of promoting accessibility and advocating for children’s rights. Anna’s emphasis on involving persons with disabilities in the design process underscores the importance of inclusivity and equal access for all. Similarly, the second speaker reinforces the vital role of civil society organisations in advocating for the rights of children. By considering the perspectives of both persons with disabilities and civil society, we can strive towards achieving the goals of equality, justice, and strong institutions.

Jacqueline Huggins

During the discussion, the speakers highlighted the importance of implementing policies and providing training to support students with disabilities in accessing educational content. They stressed that ensuring accessibility for these students is crucial for quality education. The need for such policies was emphasized due to the challenges faced by students with disabilities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the speakers mentioned that their campus had a policy in place that encouraged lecturers to provide accessibility for students. The department also collaborated with visually impaired students to ensure that content was accessible to them. In addition, the campus provided internet access and laptops to students who were in inaccessible areas. The sentiment towards these measures was positive, as they aimed to create an inclusive learning environment.

Another speaker emphasized that training was essential for both lecturers and students to effectively implement and understand accessibility measures. The department worked one-on-one with students, to ensure that they were not left behind and that they could navigate and use online platforms effectively. This sentiment towards training was also positive, as it was seen as a means to bridge the gap in accessibility.

However, a negative sentiment emerged when discussing the absence of a national policy to ensure accessibility. In Trinidad and Tobago, there is no national policy in place, which hampers the experience of students with disabilities. The current implementation of accessibility measures relies heavily on the goodwill of individual lecturers. This lack of a national framework was seen as a significant barrier to achieving full accessibility for students.

On a positive note, Jacqueline Huggins, one of the speakers, advocated for the implementation of universal design to benefit all students. She highlighted the importance of meeting with academic staff to discuss how universal design can be executed effectively. She also mentioned outreach and awareness programmes regarding universal design accessibility. Jacqueline’s positive sentiment towards universal design showcased the belief that it can create an inclusive learning environment for all students.

However, Jacqueline also acknowledged the challenges faced in implementing universal design. One such challenge was retrofitting infrastructure to make it accessible for students with disabilities. She also mentioned the difficulties lecturers faced in adapting to online and internet teaching methods. To address these challenges, she was working on a campaign to make all faculty websites accessible. The sentiment towards implementing universal design was mixed, as it was seen as beneficial but also posed practical challenges.

Apart from advocating for universal design, Jacqueline identified herself as a watchdog on campus, ensuring the implementation of accessibility measures and meeting students’ needs. She worked closely with students to understand their needs and liaised with lecturers and the deputy principal to bring about necessary changes. Jacqueline’s role as a watchdog and her positive sentiment towards meeting students’ needs showcased a commitment to inclusivity and accessibility.

The university department was also mentioned in the discussions. It demonstrated proactive support for students with disabilities by addressing their complaints and taking them to relevant authorities. The department worked closely with IT to understand the needs of supporting students and even purchased licenses for JAWS software for students who could not afford it. This collaboration with IT and the consideration of students’ complaints showed a positive sentiment towards addressing accessibility challenges.

Additionally, the department obtained funding to purchase expensive equipment and software, such as JAWS licenses, which were installed in campus libraries and computer labs. This initiative aimed to ensure that students had access to necessary resources for their education. The sentiment towards the department’s efforts in sourcing funding was positive, as it highlighted the university’s responsibility to support disadvantaged students.

The discussions also touched upon the importance of global collaboration in making e-learning more accessible. One of the campuses mentioned was fully online and covered 13 countries in the Caribbean, providing students with the opportunity to obtain their degrees. This global collaboration was seen as beneficial for accessibility in e-learning.

Furthermore, the speakers acknowledged the value of learning from global experiences and implementing best practices. Discussions with individuals from different countries provided diverse perspectives and learning opportunities. The sentiment towards learning from global experiences was positive, as it promoted growth and improvement in accessibility.

The importance of turning discussions and learnings from forums into actionable steps to improve e-learning accessibility was also emphasized. The sentiment towards taking action based on learnings was positive, as it highlighted the need for tangible change.

Overall, the discussions centered around the importance of policies, training, and universal design to support students with disabilities in accessing educational content. The challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for comprehensive accessibility measures. The absence of a national policy was seen as a hindrance to achieving full accessibility. However, the speakers expressed positive sentiment towards the implementation of universal design and the proactive efforts of the university department in addressing accessibility challenges. The importance of global collaboration and learning from diverse perspectives was also emphasized. The discussions ultimately emphasized the continuous commitment to improving accessibility and inclusivity in education.

Lydia

Accessing online learning resources in schools can be a complicated task for students, particularly those with cognitive impairments. The frequent changes in passwords and access methods implemented by IT departments create significant difficulties for students, preventing them from accessing important information and submitting assignments. This issue negatively impacts their educational experience and hampers their ability to fully participate in online learning.

The complications associated with accessing online resources are often not recognised or taken seriously by schools. Many individuals without cognitive impairments perceive these challenges as trivial, leading to a dismissive attitude towards students facing such accessibility issues. This lack of awareness and understanding further exacerbates the problem, as students with cognitive impairments struggle silently, without receiving the support and accommodations they need.

Furthermore, the implementation of frequent password changes and increased security measures poses additional barriers for students with disabilities. These students may face difficulties remembering complex passwords and navigating the heightened security protocols. As a result, they are often chastised for failing to complete their work on time or are forced to seek continuous assistance from IT support. This ongoing cycle of frustration further hampers their educational progress and creates a sense of dependency on technical support.

To address these challenges, it is crucial for schools to be more aware of the accessibility issues faced by students with cognitive impairments. Recognising the complexity and impact of these challenges is the first step towards implementing appropriate accommodations and support systems. Additionally, it is imperative for the IT security measures in schools to be user-friendly and accommodating for all students, including those with disabilities. School administrators and IT departments should work together to ensure that the security measures do not create unnecessary barriers but instead facilitate a seamless and inclusive online learning experience for all students.

In conclusion, accessing online learning resources in schools is not a simple task for students with cognitive impairments. It is essential for schools to recognise, acknowledge, and address these accessibility issues through proactive measures and awareness-raising efforts. By making online resources more accessible and ensuring user-friendly IT security measures, schools can create a supportive and inclusive educational environment for all students, regardless of their cognitive abilities.

Zakari Yama

The discussion revolves around the relationship between universal design and digital accessibility in the context of education. Universal design focuses on catering to a broader range of learners, while digital accessibility primarily addresses the needs of learners with disabilities. The aim is to create an inclusive educational environment that empowers all students to access and engage with the learning materials and activities.

One argument raised is the difficulty institutions face in implementing universal design and ensuring its compatibility with accessibility. The process of applying universal design principles and making them compatible with digital accessibility measures can be challenging for educational institutions. This challenge could potentially hinder the effective implementation of inclusive practices in education.

On the other hand, there is agreement that what is beneficial for individuals with disabilities, such as real-time captioning, can also benefit all students. For example, real-time captioning can assist students without disabilities in understanding an instructor’s accent or when watching videos in a loud environment. This highlights the importance of digital accessibility measures not only for learners with disabilities but for the entire student population. By incorporating digital accessibility features, institutions can enhance the learning experience for all students, regardless of their specific needs.

Furthermore, the stance put forth is that institutions should view accessibility efforts as an opportunity to improve their universal design practices. Instead of perceiving accessibility as a separate and burdensome requirement, institutions should leverage it to enhance the inclusivity and effectiveness of their teaching and learning approaches. By using accessibility as a framework for designing educational materials and environments, institutions can foster a more inclusive and equitable learning experience for all students.

In conclusion, the relationship between universal design and digital accessibility within education is crucial for promoting inclusivity and ensuring equitable access to educational opportunities. While there may be difficulties in implementing universal design and ensuring its compatibility with accessibility, there is a recognition that what benefits individuals with disabilities can also benefit all students. Institutions should embrace accessibility efforts as an opportunity to improve their universal design practices, ultimately creating a more inclusive and effective learning environment.

Gonola

The discussions emphasise the significance of e-learning accessibility for individuals with disabilities. It is crucial for e-learning platforms to be designed with accessibility in mind right from the start to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This approach prioritises the inclusion of all learners, regardless of their disabilities, and allows them to fully engage in online education.

Legislative frameworks are seen as pivotal in supporting the creation and adaptation of e-learning platforms to include persons with disabilities. To achieve this, strategies should be adopted from academia, the private sector, and government institutes. By pooling resources and expertise from these various sectors, it becomes possible to develop more inclusive online platforms that cater to the diverse needs of disabled individuals.

The principle of universal design for inclusive design receives support in the discussions. It is highlighted that designing e-learning platforms to be universally accessible is of utmost importance. An example is given of universally accessible building entrances, which ensure that individuals of all abilities can enter and use a space without barriers. By applying this principle to e-learning platforms, it is possible to create a more inclusive and accessible online learning experience.

Moreover, the implementation of captioning is seen as a valuable tool for promoting accessibility. The discussions highlight the utility of captioning for various user groups, including individuals with hearing loss and non-native English speakers. While captioning is essential for individuals with hearing loss, it also proves beneficial for those who may struggle with the English language. By providing captions, e-learning platforms can overcome language barriers and make educational content more accessible and comprehensible for all learners.

In conclusion, the discussions emphasise the importance of e-learning accessibility for individuals with disabilities. The need to design accessible platforms from the start, implement legislative frameworks supporting inclusivity, adopt strategies from academia and the private sector, apply the principle of universal design, and provide captioning for increased accessibility are all key points highlighted. By prioritising accessibility in e-learning platforms, we can create a more inclusive and equitable online learning environment for all individuals, regardless of their disabilities.

Gonola:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and for those online, good morning, good afternoon and good evening. This session is on e-learning, and the title is accessible e-learning experience for persons with disability best practice. And we are having a few little technical difficulties, so I apologize for starting late. We have my name is Gonola Astbrink, and I’m moderating this session, and I am chair of the Internet Society Accessibility Standing Group, and here next to me on site is Vidya Wai, and she will be speaking about her experiences of e-learning in India. We should have online our other speakers. We should have Swaran Ravindra from Fiji National University, who is the organizer of this session, and Zakari Yama, who is a co-organizer of the session. He is from Morocco, and also Vashka Bhattacharjee from Bangladesh, as well as Jackie Huggins, who is joining us from the Caribbean. So while we are waiting for them to join us online, this session is really about how persons with disability can get best access to e-learning platforms, and the importance of the e-learning to be available to persons with disability across the world. And how can we make this possible? So it’s going to challenge. We’re going to talk about some of of oppressing challenges pertaining to technology and accessibility that persons with disabilities face when accessing online content on major e-learning platforms. And we in the Accessibility Standing Group actually have personal experiences of that. We’re going to talk about supportive legislative frameworks and how we can adapt strategies to assist from the academic, the private sector, and government institutes. So that there’s much more inclusion when creating online platforms, because we know that if any online service is created accessibly from the start, it is much more effective and efficient and also a lot more cost effective. So I’m going to pass over to Vidya Y and talk about a little bit of her personal experiences, both in the past as a young blind person navigating the education system and also talking about a current situation with e-learning through the Internet Society. So I’ll pass on over now to Vidya. Thank you.

Vidya:
Hello, everyone. It’s my pleasure to be talking to you today. Thanks to the organizers for having me here. And thanks to Gunela. So about e-learning platforms, I would like to talk a little bit about my own experiences with e-learning and also what I see working with children in India. So I run a nonprofit called Vision Empower. We make STEM education accessible to children with disabilities. So, I will be talking mostly from their perspective and also my own challenges growing up with a disability, specifically on the e-learning platforms. I was born blind, so initial few years I didn’t have access to technology as much because of lack of awareness. There were technologies, but I was not using them. I got access to a computer only in grade 11, and since then, as we all know, it has huge opportunities. You know, till then, if I had to communicate, I had to ask somebody to, if I had to even send a WhatsApp, if I had to send any message, it had to be, if I had to have a written communication with a person who can see, then it would be someone else typing it for me, or I could never have a written communication, so for the first time when I used e-mail is when I got access to written communication. That was the first time someone could read what I had written, otherwise, it had to be in Braille, which most of the persons who can see do not know. So, we know how huge the impact of internet is on a person with, on the life of persons with disabilities, even if you have to browse something independently, it’s all through the internet, and e-learning is not an exception, because already classrooms are not very accessible, so a lot of things you’ll have to come home and refer, for example, when I was studying computer science, I just would go to the class and then come back home, and that’s about it. I had to find my own, find volunteers who could help me after classes. Now when you talk about e-learning, firstly, there are few challenges, especially in subjects like STEM, you know, a lot of the times, the content itself is not so accessible, like everything. Everything is designed in a way that a person with sight can understand. Now, when you take school textbooks, for example, so a lot of things are like look around, there’s a lot of greenery or this is in the shape of a mountain. So a person who has never seen it, they wouldn’t know what they’re talking about. Content itself is written in a way that persons without sight cannot understand it easily. The second challenge is with issues with regarding when I’m talking about STEM. So you have a lot of, now if you have to read a math equation, it has to be written in a specific format like your LaTeX format and other things which a screen reader can read. But lot of times if you just give a PDF, if you upload PDF onto your LMS platforms, they’re not very easily accessible. It just reads something like if you want to write two square, it reads something, superscript something or subscript something, things like this which you don’t understand. So if it has to read well, you have to write it in a way that is accessible. And thirdly, there are accessibility issues with the web platform itself. Sometimes there are unlabeled buttons, sometimes you cannot navigate, it just says link and you don’t know what’s the link all about. A lot of times what I’ve seen is if you open a PDF file, it just says page one, page two and you don’t know what’s on that page. So a lot of times they’re protected, you cannot download those files, so you cannot read them later. So there are challenges with the content, there are challenges with the accessibility and with STEM it’s even more complicated. How do you put up charts or diagrams which a child or a student can understand? Everything has to be all text and there are a lot of challenges. So you know, when we take when these are the challenges that I had navigating on some of these platforms, including when I was doing a course on Internet Society, it was not very easy to navigate. All said and done, these are the challenges that are accessibility specific, but one thing also I wanted to mention is, there’s much more than accessibility. You know, when you take school education system in India, for example, when pandemic happened, a lot of schools seamlessly shifted onto the digital platforms, but it was not the case for children in India and the teachers because you can’t tell them, go to YouTube and refer how to install Zoom, how to use Zoom because everything says click here. So when you don’t use mouse, it’s not of any value to you. So I had to make my digital literacy tutorials in various languages for the teachers and students to use. And also we have our own accessible learning management platform called Subodha. Now, some of the ground realities that I have seen getting the children and teachers onto these platforms are even little bit more than accessibility actually. One thing is making a platform accessible. Second thing is the digital literacy training that you’ll have to give them. Third thing is you have to ensure that there is some mechanism to handhold the teachers or the students or to get new users with disabilities onto the platform. Because with so many challenges, it’s not very easy to be continuously motivated to get onto the platform. And after you get on, they encounter some of the other challenges. There needs to be somebody to handhold them and make it very comfortable. Because even in our accessible platform that we have, teachers wanted some other features, like they wanted phone. So it’s very important to get, they wanted an app. So it’s very important to get their perspectives as well and make changes as they, like as we say, right, nothing about us without us. So we need to involve them in. the process of making the platform accessible and handhold them so that they’re comfortable in the usage of these platforms. So these are some of my thoughts that I wanted to share.

Gonola:
Thank you very much, Vidya. There is a lot there to take on, to consider, and from Vidya’s personal experience. I’ll pass on now over to Jacqueline Huggins, who has the experience of supporting students in her university. So please go ahead, Jacquie.

Jacqueline Huggins:
Right. Hi. Well, from here, I’m saying good night. And exactly what was just said by the last speaker. What happens on our campus, though, is that we have a policy, and that policy is what is used to encourage lecturers, academic staff, to do what is right for the student. And our department is almost like a watchdog in terms of a student who has visual impairment, who is blind, is registered with the campus, we then work with that student. And we work with lecturers so that they understand content not being accessible is very important. It is something that we always have to sit one-on-one and speak to lecturers about why it needs to be done. And we have students also speaking with the lecturers. This is what my needs, my need is. So the lecturer has a better understanding. We have had the issues where students have to deal with graphs, students have to do with calculations, and lecturers have to become creative. So sometimes we’re not even able to use the online platform. We have to use lecturer and student talking it through, finding solutions. that is not necessarily online. In terms of when COVID hit, that is where we really understood the challenges that our students with disabilities, especially students who are blind and students who were deaf, we recognized the issues that they face. And even though we recognized it, our university management decided that they’re going to provide laptops because we didn’t realize our students didn’t even have access to laptops, didn’t have access to internet. But the university came up with a plan where they worked with providers to provide internet access in areas where students did not have it. They also provided loans of laptops so students were able to utilize it. Then again, training was very important, training for some lecturers, training for some students. We just assumed that students were able to navigate and that was not the case. So my department had to actually deal one-on-one with students to ensure that they were not left behind. We also had attitudes of some lecturers. So for instance, we had a student who is deaf and the lecturer is using Blackboard and she asks him just to put on captioning and he just refused, I had to intervene. You know, again, although we had a policy, we still depended on the will and the goodwill of lecturers and academic staff to do what needs to be done. I’m not sure if India has a national policy, but Trinidad and Tobago, we don’t have a national policy. In fact, we are now on the stage where we have a draft disability bill and hopefully when that is passed, our students and our… campus and our students anyway would be able to navigate, would be able to be trained, would be able to have the type of access that they need to have. That’s it for me.

Gonola:
Thank you very much. And I think that we are naturally segwaying into policies and legislation and where that fits. And Swaran, I will ask you to maybe make some comments about that from your perspective, please.

Swaran Ravindra:
Thank you, Gunilla. Thank you very much, Vidya. Thank you very much, Dr. Gintz. First of all, I wanted to say a big thank you in Fijian, also our independent day today. And, you know, it sort of resonates with the topic we have today, because I don’t feel personally as a citizen of the country, I do not feel that we would be able to live a dignified life until everyone, each and every person in the country has access to the basic citizen-centric services that every other person has. And I think that the resilience that the people of Tobago have is just amazing. As Dr. Gintz has just mentioned, that there is no national policy at the moment. Actually, I met Dr. Gintz, I think three to four years ago, when I went, I was actually a visitor to the University of West Indies. And that’s when I met this wonderful woman, you know, and she learned, I personally learned a lot from her from that one meeting. And one fundamental thing that I had actually learned during that visit was that even though there’s no national policy, we need to have people who are continuously there as a support system. Along with Dr. Gintz, I’ve also met some other people in the university who have told me that though there wasn’t a disability policy, but we have used other avenues, other legal instruments that were there in terms of, you know, support for persons with disabilities. For example, the Education Act that says education is accessible to everybody. everybody means everybody. It also includes persons with disabilities. So there are people who firmly believe in inclusion as a basic fundamental human right, and they exercise it through other avenues, not just the Disability Act. If I were to shed some light onto what happened in Fiji, so when we had a bill passed in government for the provisions for creating provisions for accessibility or for the rights of the persons with disability, that was in 2016, into 2018 was when the act came into practice. However, till date, we do not have anything in written, in legislation that says that persons with disabilities need to have access in every avenue, every avenue in terms of everything that is supposed to be there for a citizen, public amenities, social platforms, social media platforms, places where people interact, meet, citizen-centric services, education, and many, many other avenues that most people enjoy seamlessly. So in Fiji, though, we have the 2018 Act that says that we need to create the provisions, but it doesn’t explicitly say what those provisions should be or how to create those provisions. There’s nothing that is written that says you need to ensure that all your websites are accessible. So what I’ve been doing so far is whenever I get an opportunity to speak to an audience and I talk to them about inclusion, I do talk to them about OH&S, which is Occupational Health and Safety. It is legislation of the country and no organization can bypass that. So we are talking about having accessible entry points in a building, which is great, which is absolutely important. But at the same time, we are neglecting, suppose we are not taking into consideration those people who are not there physically. They also need to have access to amenities. They also need to have access to the websites. accessible website is still something that is rather new, a very new concept in the Pacific. So I think we need to start working in that area.

Gonola:
Thank you very much. There is so much to do. Vidya, could you explain from the Indian perspective on legislation policies in regard to accessibility in education and has that policy and legislation actually been implemented?

Vidya:
Yes, from the Indian context, actually now the government is trying to come up with NEP, National Educational Policy, where they’re trying to make a lot of changes and inclusion is considered as one of the most important areas. Actually, a lot of people now are trying to get on to inclusive education than having special schools and special education system for the visually impaired, but it’s all there, but I’m sure it will take a lot of time to implement it, but the government has started thinking in the right direction. One thing about India is that while we were working with schools, we cannot go from school to every school and get approval, so we are directly working with the state governments. We have MOU signed with the state governments and they actually send out circulars to all the schools in the states to follow our interventions. That’s how it’s been working. What I have seen is in India, there are so many states and in each state, the policies are very different. So in one of the, suppose in one state, the special education or education for persons with disabilities will come under the separate department like Department of Social Justice, whatever is there in that disability office, whatever department. there are different departments actually for persons with disabilities. So sometimes the education comes under that department in few states. But in other few states, it comes directly under the Department of Education. So these are two different departments. And there is nothing like throughout the country, it’s the same policy. Sometimes when it is with the education department, the accessibility and awareness, those aspects are not very much there because it’s for general education. And even sometimes if it’s under the special education department, a lot more needs to be done. But it’s a little bit better. So there are all of these constraints that are there. There’s nothing like nationally everyone is following certain thing. It’s different for different states. But all of a sudden, we have actually signed the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2016. Lot needs to be done, but it has started. I’m not saying that what it was a decade back, it’s still the same. Because government is actually trying to make their websites accessible. Long way to go, but it has started. So that’s currently there. And there needs to be something central for special education in the country, which right now is not there.

Gonola:
Yes, there is certainly a lot to do. And one of the areas that we often talk about is universal design and its principles to ensure that there is design from the start when it comes to how a platform is accessible for anyone. If we take, for example, in the built environment, if we have a platform that is accessible for everyone, level entrance to a building instead of stairs, that means that it’s useful for persons using a wheelchair, but it’s also useful for someone pushing a pram or a delivery cart, and it’s not a special adaption, and that’s what we like to see more and more of in the online world, and for example here in this room we have captioning, and there has been a lot of work done to ensure that there is captioning in these particular sessions, but it’s essential for a person who has hearing loss, but it’s really good for anyone who has a language other than English and needs to have confirmed what is being said, or maybe there’s some facts that they can catch up with on the particular captioning. So I’d like to ask Dr. Huggins, your thoughts about universal design and its principles in the online learning environment.

Jacqueline Huggins:
Just to clarify, we have a national policy 2018, however we don’t have any legislation to back that policy, so it’s like you have a policy but nothing is being done. Thankfully the draft Trinidad and Tobago Disabilities Bill of 2023 will change that. Now in terms of universal design, my personal thought is it can be done, it can be done, and it is useful for everyone. So in terms of our academic staff, I would… have met with some academic staff and try to show them that based on what they do and how they do it, it will allow any student to benefit from their delivery. It will allow any student to be able to do that assignment. One of the things we talk about is really the cost. So for instance, my university was built 75 years ago and how do we retrofit so that it’s physical? We have lecturers who would have started teaching many years ago and this whole online and internet is very new to them. So how do we change the way they think and understand in terms of meeting the needs of every student within that classroom? So that is something that we continue in terms of awareness. We do outreach. We meet with the organization on the campus that provides training for academic staff so that they have a sense. Websites. I am working on a campaign where we are trying to get every faculty’s website to be accessible. We have new things. I am not sure if you heard of Canva and we have some colleagues who love to do Canva. They love to put pictures. They love to put blocks and then when they do that, a student who is blind, their equipment cannot read. So it is a constant. You must have a watchdog. I call myself a watchdog at that campus. You must have a watchdog that looks and sees and recognize and then speak out on behalf of students. We also work closely with our students. What are your needs? And we have to meet your needs once we recognize and we said, yes, we are taking you onto this campus. We must recognize your needs. we, my department, work very closely with the students that we serve. So we are always liaising with the lecturer, we are always liaising with our deputy principal in terms of changes that must come. Our mantra is that we are going to create a campus without barriers and that is what we work towards. Universal design is super important.

Gonola:
I like your term watchdog. I often use the word accessibility champion and I would encourage any organisation to ensure that there is either a watchdog or an accessibility champion to keep reminding the fellow staff and within the organisation generally to ensure that there is accessibility and that it doesn’t slip away. Suwaran, would you have any comments on that,

Swaran Ravindra:
please? I was just listening. It’s totally remarkable. As mentioned earlier, as Dr Higgins had previously said, I think it’s evidence that legislation on its own is never enough because even without legislation, these remarkable women have done so much work. They have come up with textbooks, they have come up with tertiary level education. If I may make reference to Professor Harrington-Blake who is in the Faculty of Education. So I remember when I met her, this is about four years ago and she had told me that no, we do not have enough legislation for persons with disabilities specifically, but we do have the Education Act and it says everybody and that did not stop her. That actually was something that she utilised when the term everybody means every citizen of the nation and that is what gave her enough legislation to go ahead and create a tertiary level education, a master’s. degree or a postgraduate degree in inclusion, that that teaches teachers how to make the classes inclusive. So I think this is enough evidence to say that legislation on its own is never enough. We do need the watchdogs, we need people who have to be there constantly ensuring that inclusion becomes part of our DNA. Now it needs to be part of our muscle memory, it needs to be part of our everyday motto and mantra. Nobody has to be left behind because somebody forgot to address the needs of a particular person. So just as the University of West Indies has, we also at Fiji National University have a reasonable adjustable form in which we meet a student and then we have a discussion, go through some student counselling session. But the other obstacle we face in that area is that the right still remains for the student if they want to declare their disability. And many times we’ve got these cultural norms, we have these societal norms, we have challenges around that as well because until and unless somebody declares the disability there would not be much that we can do to help. That does become a barrier. If I could refer to a specific case, I remember teaching a student who exhibited traits, or I wouldn’t say symptoms, but traits of a person who has a form of autism. And if I were to be specific on, because I had some discussion with some other teachers and they told me that it seems like that it is autism. But we could not really put a finger on what particular type of autism, because until and unless we can do that we will not be able to create the special provisions that are needed. So that becomes an obstacle. So when we tried to talk to her parents, the parents had a very aloof type of reaction. They said, no, my child doesn’t have disability. So for them disability is something to be shunned away, to be kept quiet about. It’s something that would be embarrassing and they feel that if anybody gets to know that the child has a disability then it is something that is not something to be proud of, it is something that would deter people in giving opportunities in the workforce as well. So these are some of the obstacles we are facing. Now AFINI is an ISO certified organization, we practice ISO 9001 and we’ve had situations where I remember there was a time when we had a participant in a short course program and she may have been in her early 50s and she had superannuation, she was actually paying for a course through superannuation and there were people in the class who came and told me madam it’s rather dangerous to keep her in class because she, well they used rather disturbing terms but what could have been the case was perinatal schizophrenia. So I had other participants coming and telling me that she could be dangerous to keep in class so then again we’ve got another legislation about OHS where we need to protect every participant in the class and so sometimes we have legislations that sort of contradict with each other but then there comes a point in time for like for example in my case as a teacher I had to stand my ground and I had to say no my student has a constitutional right to be in this class and if we are not creating the right provisions then we are people who are not you know doing the right thing but then eventually we had a good discussion. This was a thing in 2006 and I remember we still kept that student in class but the fact that she was using her own superannuation I think it was evidence enough that she was in a sound mind to actually work and end up living for herself. So there’s so many things that sort of contradict with each other as well but I think in cases like that we probably need another act that stands robust on its own. The fact that we need to create the provisions for persons with disabilities and that was entailed and enriched within the 2018 Act of Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The incident that I’m telling you about happened in 2006. So the only instrument, the only legal instrument I had in order to keep this student of mine in class was the fact that it is a basic right, it is a constitutional right to be in class. But of course, as in many lesser developed countries, as in many economies that are still developing, there will always be a huge gap between what the constitution says that the citizens should have in terms of rights and what the legislation says in terms of what happens when those rights are breached. So we need to, you know, focus on the gaps, we need to focus on the gaps and also find out how to address them.

Gonola:
There is a lot to unpack there. And I think that when it comes to the issue of cultural barriers in terms of the general education community understanding what it means to have a different type of disability and the shunning, the stigma in some cases. Vidya, do you have any comments about that? And also in terms of

Vidya:
universal design? Yes, as I was already mentioning that, you know, sometimes it’s the accessibility specific issues why people are not able to get onto the digital platforms or things like that. But sometimes it’s also all of these barriers like cultural norms considering it as a stigma. So it almost happens in all villages. For example, there is one lady who stays next door to my house and she rarely comes out of house. So 40 years, I think now she’s almost 40. So 40 years she’s a blind person and she’s locked up indoors. So there are situations like that. And I myself have seen trying to get some women onto digital platforms so that at least they can be connected to the community. And when I try to reach out to them, in the initial stages itself, there’ll be somebody at home picking up the call and not connecting to them. So they don’t have even that much freedom for them to get onto digital platforms. So all of these barriers definitely are there. And sometimes it’s also how we design the technologies. Even social issues are sometimes socially how we want to be there, how we want to look. For example, if you take a simple example of a cane, some people are not comfortable taking it and walking with it because it looks very different. Now, if there are some audio-specific devices which are too big or which are not very socially pleasing to take it in a social setting, then people will not like to use them much. So some phone, for example, is a very good example of universal design because on the phone, there’s TalkBack. There are all sorts of accessibility features that are there. When you want, you can turn it on. When you want, you can turn it off. So phone, everybody carries. There’s nothing that prevents you taking it whenever you are in a group or whenever you are in a social setting. So you’ll have to consider all of these barriers as well while designing the e-learning experiences and make it as inclusive and as socially acceptable as possible on what platform you want to design the e-learning experiences. So all of these will also have to be factored in. And the continuous support for people to use the platforms also is a must. Sometimes the government runs a lot of programs. They distribute laptops. They distribute a lot of devices. or even some other organizations distributed to students and all the software is installed, LMS platforms are there, but who is going to oversee it whether the students, teachers or whichever person wants to use the platform, are they comfortable, are they using, are they able to use it on a long-term basis. All of these will have to surely be considered along with accessibility issues.

Gonola:
Thank you Vidya and I’d like now to bring in Zakaria. Yama from Morocco who is a co-organizer of this session and also on the leadership team of the Internet Society Accessibility Standing Group and so if Zakaria could make some comments about universal design principles too, thank you

Zakari Yama:
Thank you Gunilla, thank you everyone. As some institutions as said by Medessa, I find it difficult to apply universal design and make it compatible with the accessibility, even though both have the same goal, making access and reduce barriers for students. However, the scope and method they use vary. For a universal design, it focuses on a broader range of learners while the digital accessibility focuses essentially on learners with disability, but the good news is that what is good for persons with disability is also good for everyone. When we take for example real-time captioning for persons with disability, it is also good for students without disabilities because when they have for example a difficulty understanding an instructor’s accent, it’s also good for them when watching a video in a loud environment. When applied with an accessibility mindset, the universal design for learning often leads to resulting in benefits for people beyond those in need of a specific accommodation. In my opinion, any institution should use the accessibility effort as an opportunity to improve the universal design practices. Thank you.

Gonola:
Thank you very much, Zakari. Before we go on to talk about the broader concept of how the internet community can all work on making e-learning more accessible, I’d like to open the floor now to persons in the room and online if there are any comments or questions. Yes, we have one from Lydia Best. Please take the microphone.

Lydia:
Thank you very much. I’m Lydia Best and I represent the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People. I have a question not around just the e-learning in the classroom itself, but also before. For example, students have to access internet and online resources teachers provide for them, be it assignment, be it whatever materials we need to use. What I have seen, and that is in the UK, that the IT department in the schools often apply a very heavy-handed way towards accessing the online resources in the schools, between the schools. And that, in fact, is a barrier for those with cognitive impairment. And, you know, just constantly changing the passwords, constantly changing the way to access, immediately stops for students from accessing vital information and from being able to provide their assignments. And the problem is that nobody actually sees this as a problem, even when you raise it, because it’s being seen as, this is simple, this is no problem for anyone, so why do you have a problem? And I think we need to address that as well. Thank you.

Gonola:
Thank you very much, Lydia. Who would like to take that question? Vidya or Dr. Huggins, Swaran, who would like to take that question?

Jacqueline Huggins:
What I would like to say is that, you know, I understand what was just said, but on my campus, again, my department, we work closely with IT. You know, we listen to whatever complaints students have, and we take it to whichever quarters. So, for instance, we had students who could not afford the software that is needed, the JAWS. So, what I did is that I worked with my supervisor to gain funding, so that we were able to purchase four licenses, and we put it in each one of our libraries, our computer labs, so our students were able. IT was included so that it had an understanding of why we were using the software, the reason why they need to support the students. So, it is also about finding the stakeholders who would listen, finding the stakeholders who would understand and ensure, you know, that what the student needs. is what the student gets. There are some equipment that’s very expensive that our students cannot purchase. And therefore the university has that responsibility. And once the university has that responsibility, those who are involved in ensuring that it happens, like our IT unit, they are definitely brought on board. So, you know, a lot of what we do, it takes meeting and talking, negotiating, which shouldn’t be, it should be, this is what needs to be done. But it takes some of that to ensure that, you know, the students are not frustrated. The students are able to come on campus and they’re able to do what they need to do.

Gonola:
Thank you. Any other comments to that question?

Swaran Ravindra:
I just wanted to just clarify from Lydia once more. So is your question around the need of, you know, having to constantly change your passwords or there’s too many authentication processes that make it cumbersome for a person with disability to continue, you know, working? Is it something around that? If Lydia could please clarify, I’m just trying to understand.

Lydia:
It’s Lydia speaking, yes, that’s correct. So that is even before you go online to participate in your online learning. And, you know, I’m not going to talk about captioning because it’s been already said, but it is actually accessing the vital materials the students have to get into online library where the teachers put in the assignments where for the students, students get chastised for not finishing or finalizing the work, but they literally could not remember their passwords. And when they were erasing it, it’s a constant battle of working with the IT to understand, but actually you can’t keep changing those passwords. You can’t keep ramping up security. because it creates a barrier for the students. And I have seen it first hand with my son. Thank you.

Swaran Ravindra:
Thank you, Lydia. I think that’s a very valid point. And additionally, students should never be penalized for that extra time that they require in logging into the system. The assessment should, in fact, start from the moment that the student has accessed the main curriculum. And if you look at certain, if I could speak about certain IT exams, for example, CCNA, Cisco exams, Checkpoint exams, Microsoft exams. If you do the exams, for example, you’ll see that you are assessed only for the times that you are actively online. And if there is any sort of technical issue, then whatever time the technical issue takes, that time would not be you. You wouldn’t be held against you. You will be compensated for that time. That’s that’s one part of the equation. Now, of course, it’s very important for us to be cyber resilient in today’s world. I cannot emphasize that enough. However, there are so many easier ways of authentication, thumb trains, tongue scan, retina scan. There’s so many different types of easier authentication methods that are specific to that person. Face recognition, retina recognition. So these authentication methods that are specific to the person. So there’s really no other way of bypassing that. It’s very secure and it’s easier as well. So I fail to understand why would they try to impose such difficult types of authentication methods and waste their time and make it such a deterrent that the student would not even want to go back to class. So maybe you should really advocate for this.

Gonola:
Thank you very much, Suaran. And there is another question or comment here in the room.

Anna:
Hello, my name is Anna. I’m from Brazil and I work in a child’s rights organization. And I would like to hear a little more about Lydia’s work with children. And if you can comment about the role of civil society. and promoting their rights, and you talk about guaranteeing the accessibility since the design too, and it’s what we defend for children too, but I want to hear about your thoughts about how can we do this and promote this if we don’t have the platforms involved in this debate, or we don’t have persons with disabilities working in those places to think and promote these accessible ways, and what is your thought about that?

Gonola:
That’s a long question, and also it can be a very long answer, and I think we can make it part of the rounding off of this session about how the internet community can encourage collaboration across the globe to make learning more accessible for persons with disability, and certainly children with disabilities, so I’ll pass now over to Vidya.

Vidya:
Yes, so I feel a little bit to answer the question that you had asked earlier, so when you’re talking about children, a lot of times children do not know what they want, so it should be the persons with disabilities who have grown up in similar circumstances, who have gone through the system to tell that this is what the children need, so once the child knows that these are the things, because what I have seen is whenever you take any new technology to the child, they are very open-minded, they are not very biased, they have not grown up yet, so they don’t have their own assumptions, so whenever you take something new, they pick it up really, really quickly, so I don’t see that. see why a child who is introduced to computer, who is introduced to braille, who is introduced to technology, who knows everything, say, right from grade one, why won’t they be able to compete with everyone else, say, when they reach grade eight or nine? I mean, they can do very much everything in par with everybody else. So that’s what we are trying to give all of these, right from very early age, everything that a child has access, a child with sight has access. We are trying to make it available for children without sight as well. And I feel the nonprofit organizations have a huge role because they’re the bridge between the government and bridge. They know the ground realities working in this space. So it’s very much essential for the nonprofit organizations to be that bridge and to play their role very effectively. Also, as an internet community, I feel that having forums like these where there are people who have expertise in different areas, sharing their thoughts, networking, and actually coming up with what are the pressing needs that the community at large has, and actually following up with the networks that we make here and making a meaningful impact together. Anyone individually cannot do it. So I feel forums like these and the internet community has a huge role to play, and it takes time. So it’s a good starting point.

Gonola:
Thank you very much, Vidya. And it’s so important to hear from a person with a lived experience and the pathway that Vidya took to become who is now a global advocate. So that’s very important. now pass on in the last few minutes, just very briefly, to Dr. Huggins, just to give some thought about this encouraging collaboration across the globe, which we’ve already heard about, all of those experiences from various different countries. And how can we continue that collaboration to make e-learning more accessible? Dr. Huggins.

Jacqueline Huggins:
And I certainly want to agree with forums like these, because this is where I learn, and this is where I take back to my university and try to get it implemented. And this organization, there’s a wealth of knowledge, a wealth of experience, and we cannot stop. We need to continue. And so, for instance, one of our campus is fully online, and it covers 13 countries in the Caribbean. And students are able to get their degrees. And I believe if we utilize a system like that, little by little, we spread it. I am talking to somebody from India. I’m talking to somebody from Fuji. And we learn from each other, and then we put together what are the best practices. And we start to utilize whatever we learn on these forums. It’s not a talk show. We’re going to take back some thoughts. We’re going to take back some action. And I think little by little, we stay with this. We stick together, and we could get it done. It’s going to take some time, like she said, but it’s not impossible.

Gonola:
Thank you very much. And I will give a final word to Suara Narendra, please.

Swaran Ravindra:
Thank you very much. So finally, I think. through all this conversation, there’s something that I wanted to talk about is affirmative action. We can talk about these things. And, you know, last year I met someone at APIGF and he mentioned that I’ve been saying the same thing for the past 10 years. I think it’s time for affirmative action and we can do it together, right? So some of the things that could help is first of all, a disparity measurement. We cannot talk without having proper measurements in front of us. Governments, economies will not listen to us till we have intellectual property that is based on disparity measurements. So basically it’s just a simple measurement of how many people are digitally included over how many people who are not. And then there’s some standards like the world-renowned standard WCAG to the least if we could try with 1.0, even in places where there’s no such thing as digital inclusion ever done. So if we could have web content accessibility guidelines 1.0 to start off with. And this one initiative that I wanted to speak to you about is UNESCO’s Romex Indicators, which is an internet universality indicator assessment. So we are currently doing this for five Pacific island nations and basically it’s based on human rights principles for an internet that is based on human rights. It is open, it should be accessible to all and it is nurtured by multiple stakeholder participation as well as some cross-cutting issues like children, gender, security, economy. So this is quite an interesting study. I’m actually part of this. So if there’s anybody who would like to talk to me about how you could do this, I’ll be happy to address your questions later on. So that’s all I had to say. Thank you very much.

Gonola:
Thank you very much, Swaran and thank you very much to the panel and the audience with your questions. And I think we have learned a lot and we look forward to further collaboration across the globe. Thank you very much, everyone.

Jacqueline Huggins:
Thank you and goodbye.

Swaran Ravindra:
Sorry, can we just take a photo quickly, please?