The school system at the university level in developing nations provides the most impactful environment for effective learning and building human capital required for a future-knowledge economy. Unfortunately, less attention is given to the provision of appropriate platforms for the disabled to effectively learn in the university system. Notably,…

Although the web accessibility of universities around the world is well documented, much remains unknown about this aspect of higher education institutions in the UK. Using three automated web accessibility tools (TAW, WAVE and EIII Page Checker), this study explores the accessibility of the homepages of 66 research-intensive universities with…

A common problem for people with disabilities, particularly those who rely on mobility devices, is learning to navigate a new environment. This is especially troublesome for students who are attending a new university and need to figure out how to get from one place to another. All Together Now is a mobile multi-player cooperative game developed…

In today's society, educational opportunities have evolved beyond the traditional classroom setting. Most universities have implemented virtual learning environments in an effort to provide more opportunities for potential or current students seeking alternative and more affordable learning solutions. "User-Centered Design Strategies for…

The Australian Government's widening participation agenda--also referred to as the social inclusion agenda--considers equity through the triple focus of access, participation and outcomes. These foci are catalysts for re-examining teaching and learning approaches in formal education. This article considers this national refocus and the…

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are pervasive elements of most modern technical software and represent a convenient tool for student instruction. For example, GUIs are used for [chemical] process design software (e.g., CHEMCAD, PRO/II and ASPEN) typically encountered in the senior capstone course. Drag and drop aspects of GUIs are challenging for…

Speech technology--especially automatic speech recognition--has now advanced to a level where it can be of great benefit both to able-bodied people and those with various disabilities. In this paper we describe an application "TalkMaths" which, using the output from a commonly-used conventional automatic speech recognition system,…

More recent motivational research focuses on the identification of effective techniques for enhancing instructional design and meeting the needs of diverse student populations (Wlodkowski R. J., 1981). Learning-motivation researchers are applying some of the same theories and concepts found to be effective in industry to the development of…