Inhalt:
.Magazine Program: Move Barriers
Speaker: The University of Vienna offer correspondence classes, a possiblity of the internets is the E-Learning platform WebCT Vista. Unfortanantly this platform is not barrier free. The blind report that the E-Learning platform should be available to them after the beginning stages.
The programmer and softwaredeveloper, Mr. Mag. Jürgen Mangler from the Institute for Knowledge and Business Engineering at the University of Vienna comments on the problem of barrier free e-learning platforms, in particular WebCT.
O-Tone Jürgen Mangler: Yes it is not simple to make WebCT Vista barrier free. The need to change Web CT exists already, since the basic design stuktur of Web CT Vista in 6-7 years old. It has very complicated tables, that when a screen read would read it then would it probably come out as complicated goobley-guck, that someone, like the blind, would find understand. But I?m guessing the decision for WebCT didn?t consider being barrier free. And a whole list of E-Learning platforms were evaluated and the decision was made based on functionality and which ones met European standards and which Web platforms were used by other universities.
We developed our components as an extension to the platform?s functionality as support for special didactic methods and from the beginning we considered it important to include barrier free extensions. So this was considered by me as a priority.
Speaker: About barrier freedom at the university of Vienna there is no excuse. We have in the process of our research noticed many changes. On the one side many students are willing to help, however the handicap don?t want to be dependent on the kindness of others. On the other side there exists a relatively good network, which has been built up over the years. This makes things easier for the handicap students with their studies at the university. Also young ambitious programmers consider the needs and requirement of handicap students in the latest software development.
Speaker: These changes both in word and action by the university peronal means at least the beginning of barrier freedom at the university. The university is on the right path, even if they seem to be moving slowly.
Moderation: The culture group ?Ich bin OK? = I am OK, lead by Kathi Zanin, has 8 different dance groups, that is unique to Austria, for integrating handicapped and not handicapped people together. Carolyn Oates visited the social dance group for Freak-Radio and listened in.
