[senit] Characteristics of a fully inclusive learning platform

Dear all,
a large number of people have contributed to this work about what a fully accessible learning platform might look like. I have tried to send this 
out previously but failed because SENIT doesn't take attachments. It will be going up on the SENJIT website at the Institute of Education 
sometime soon. 
The Becta specification for learning platforms is fairly comprehensive, however it is not always clear just what full accessibility might mean in 
practice. Hence this attempt to flesh that out. 
Please feel free to comment, criticise and use as you wish. I am pasting it in its entirety below. 
Happy New Year
John Galloway

Characteristics of a fully inclusive Learning Platform

The learning platform is seen as a means of accessing learning content, as distinct from the content itself. It also provides tools for 
independent, social and collaborative learning such as bulletin boards, blogs, wikis and e-portfolios.   In functionality and purpose it may be 
viewed as providing access to tools and resources in a similar way to a web-browser.
There are three aspects of a learning platform that contribute to its accessibility, viz:-
Appearance, 
Language
Usability (user friendliness)
Customisation of any of these aspects for individual users should be consistent across all sites and devices where they log on. Changes, once 
made, should be in effect for all subsequent log-ins, until the user chooses to make further adjustments.  
Appearance
A number of aspects of the  user interface needs to be highly configurable.
Pupils need to be able to change several aspects of the appearance, including; 
* font, including  size and colour; 
* colour scheme; 
* layout, such as where tools, links and buttons appear on screen;
* re-scaleable images, with or without text descriptors.

There are a number of ways in which these modifications may be brought about such as;
* Cascading style sheets, whereby any alterations to the presentation of a web-page or portal, are applied consistently to all subsequent 
pages viewed.
* Pages constructed on a range of templates, each designed to address different aspects of users needs. 

Language
The interface will need to be flexible in its use of language. Some users may have limited literacy skills, be visually impaired, or reliant on 
symbols for access to text. The learning platform should therefore be:

Supported by audio
* A screen-reader built in
* All images, diagrams and illustrations to have verbal descriptions
* User controls to include volume, pitch, and start/stop,

Accessed in other ways including
* Symbols
* Other languages
* Signing

Usability (User friendliness)
The way in which the user interacts with the learning platform needs to be adaptable to their access preferences. Its functions, such as 
altering the appearance or uploading materials to the portfolio, need to have minimum training for learners to use.

The learning platform should be accessible using other devices in addition to the keyboard and mouse, for instance;
* Switches
* Touch screen
* Voice.

When adding content to their portfolio users should be able to select items and upload, or download, these in an easy and intuitive way, such 
as;
* Using an icon driven, visual interface,
* Drag and drop to add/remove items
* Using a range of content formats, such as video and voice,
* Tag items in a way that is meaningful and useful to themselves, i.e. when adding items to their portfolios they can choose to add descriptors 
that will make them easy to retrieve.
* Use alternative security features to username/password, such as fingerprint recognition. 

Users must be able to participate in assessment and learning activities provided by and through the learning platform. These might include;
* Self-review of on-going learning,
* Submitting work to teachers and receiving feedback,
* Participating in standard tests, whether in-school or statutory,
* Contribute to social learning activities for example through wikis or blogs,
* Post materials to websites or bulletin boards as part of a learning activity. 

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