How to make sure your learning content includes people with motor impairments

A learner case study by disability inclusion expert Esi Hardy, from Designing Accessible Learning Content

I am Esi Hardy. I am an entrepreneur, a business owner and a student. I am a physically disabled person. I have cerebral palsy and have limited mobility in all four of my limbs and very limited dexterity in my hands. The way I describe it is that “I can do a little bit of most things but nothing of everything.” When I was at school everything needed to be done for me. Throughout my education that made it harder for me to learn, because I learn by doing. Now technology means I can study independently. This has opened up learning for me and I am currently studying for an online degree in business management. I use a keyboard and trackpad to navigate around my computer and Siri to read aloud content. I also use Siri to dictate notes to my phone. If I’m writing something that’s going to be long, I’ll either dictate through Siri or speak it into my phone and then upload it onto a transcription service. I can then send this to my personal assistant who types it up for me. I also download books onto my kindle to read course material.

There are still many cases where eLearning continues to create barriers and exclude disabled people.

Although technology has made learning more inclusive and I have had some very good experiences of learning online, there are still many cases where eLearning continues to create barriers and exclude disabled people. My learning experiences while studying for my degree has provided examples of both. Before I began my course, I had a disability assessment which allowed me to outline my access requirements and everything I needed to learn successfully. This was taken into account in my first two years. I was given the tools I needed to succeed without question. I felt that the university were genuinely inclusive and mindful of disability and access requirements. This boosted my confidence and helped me to achieve high merits in all of my assignments and distinctions for my modules. Unfortunately, this changed in my third year when one of the modules I studied had an assessment method which was inaccessible for me, yet the faculty refused to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate my disability. Despite making a formal complaint and the university accepting that my disability profile had been incorrectly recorded, this was not taken into account and I barely scraped a pass mark for this module.

Equal rights to services and learning should not be an option or luck of the draw, it should be taken for granted by us as students and consumers.

From an eLearning perspective, the issue I had was simple. It was a problem caused by the fact that only one form of assessment was allowed, and that the criteria for that assessment didn’t take into account the diversity and differing learning needs of the students. Yet, the implications of the issue and the university’s refusal to take responsibility or to make accommodations had far reaching consequences. I felt I had no option other than to take legal action. Eventually, however, the stress and anxiety involved with this process took such a toll on my mental health that I wasn’t able to carry on. I still feel bad about this. I am someone who always tells people to stand up for what they believe in and not to back down when they face oppression. I’m saddened that because of the mindset that I was in at the time I didn’t feel able to do this. But I’m also saddened that the only way to make some universities take action over discriminatory practice is to sue so that it becomes public knowledge. I am determined not to let this experience stop me getting my degree, but it has definitely undermined my confidence and it still affects my mental health. I shouldn’t have had to go through this, and neither should other disabled people.

We must have equal rights to access learning and educational services so that we can move on in life, instead of being forced into situations which perpetuate the stereotype that disabled people aren’t able to achieve.

We are people who are disabled by the barriers which we encounter all the time in our daily lives. Equal rights to services and learning should not be an option or luck of the draw, it should be taken for granted by us as students and consumers. Too many disabled students still put up with less than average support because society has made us feel as though we do not deserve this. Educational establishments have a duty to role model equality and best practice for others to follow so that disabled people and their families expect and are empowered by true inclusion. We must have equal rights to access learning and educational services so that we can move on in life, instead of being forced into situations which perpetuate the stereotype that disabled people aren’t able to achieve. The main message that I’d like people to take away from my story is to be aware that disability and impairments affect so many people at different points in their journey in so many different ways. This means that the only way to be inclusive of the majority of people is to gather their lived experiences and learn from what they are telling you. I urge you to take this understanding and use it to create better and more inclusive learning experiences.

This extract from Designing Accessible Learning Content by Susi Miller is ©2021 and is reproduced with permission from Kogan Page Ltd. 

What can you do?

• Find out more about how to make your learning content accessible for users with a range of disabilities and impairments by pre-ordering Designing Accessible Learning Content. Use the code AHR20 to receive a 20% discount.
• Find more information and free resources on how to design learning content which includes learners with motor impairments at www.elahub.net - How can I make eLearning resources accessible?
• Join one of over 180 events for Global Accessibility Awareness Day - Thursday May 20, 2021
• Join the LinkedIn eLearning Accessibility Community.