This article explains how online students with disabilities can have issues of accessibility in higher education. Open University Australia is an organization of seven universities and fifteen institutions teaching higher education to students fully online across undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Students are given the opportunity to disclose any disabilities to OUA during enrollment; however due to privacy legislation, OUA does not pass the information on to the institution where the student is studying. At OUA, an emailed survey was conducted with students who had registered for support. The survey examined two areas; how accessible the online platforms used for teaching were, and what motivated the students to disclose their disability or not. The study found that 46.3% of OUA students responded as to having a mental illness.
The article then examines the advantages of eLearning and those with a disability. Kent states that the biggest advantage is that online information can be made available in a variety of formats that best suit the person trying to access it. Information can be formatted visually through images or text, audio as spoken words or sound, or touch through wearable technology. Kent mentions that design can make or break student accessibility with eLearning.
Mike, Kent. “Disability, Mental Illness, and ELearning: Invisible Behind the Screen?” The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, 17 Dec. 2015, jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/disability-mental-illness-and-elearning-invisible-behind-the-screen/.