Accessibility/universal design means a service/product or an environment is usable by everyone to the greatest extent possible. This ensures equal access to learning material for students including ES Learners, those with disabilities, different learning styles, background and age.
Universal design ensures that all students have same opportunities to achieve an optimum level without using any adaptive devise.
Universally designed learning environments are created to be accessible to everyone from the beginning. If an online product/website meets the accessibility/UD criteria it will be automatically be ranked higher in search engines and get noticed in market/preferred by teachers.
Some features of universal accessible online product :
- Usable with assistive technology
- Navigation and Keyboarding(motor co-ordination disabilities)
- Customization of Graphics and Sounds(visual disabilities)
- Accessible search features
- Accessible Web pages(slow internet/ dial-up network)
The federal legislation regarding accessibility of education:
- the guidelines of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),
- Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 1998 (P. L. 102-569).
