Abstract
Public and private universities in Uganda have been using Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) since early 2000s to support delivery of blended learning owing to the increased uptake of technology in many aspects of life, and the benefits of blended learning/eLearning. eLearning is of particular benefit to people with disabilities, since they may find it difficult to attend classes on a university campus. Accessibility of a VLE has a strong impact on user engagement and adoption and consequently on students’ learning outcomes. Current research on use of VLEs and eLearning in general in Ugandan universities focuses on sensitization and training, the potential of social media like WhatsApp and Facebook, and required resources like Internet connectivity, and change management. In stark contrast, there is no investigation of accessibility to people with disabilities, even though about 12.4% of the population have some form of disability. This paper examines the extent to which Uganda’s policy environment promotes making eLearning accessible, reviews the accessibility of a sample of VLEs of public and private universities in Uganda, and suggests recommendations on addressing the existing accessibility gaps in policy and implementation of VLEs.
Highlights
As part of the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, all tertiary institutions across Uganda were required to shift to Open Distance and eLearning (ODeL)
This paper examines the extent to which Uganda’s policy environment promotes inclusive ODeL, reviews the extent Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) of selected public and private universities in Uganda are currently accessible to people with disabilities, and suggests recommendations on how existing gaps in policy and implementation of VLEs can be addressed to improve the accessibility of VLEs of universities in Uganda
Lack of substantive policy instruments limits the demand for access, equity and quality to educational services. This can explain why the ODeL guidelines released by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in July 2020 to guide remote teaching and learning activities during the Covid19 lockdown are silent on ensuring that all remote learning activities, and in particular the learning management system (LMS) and its content, are accessible to students with disabilities, despite the fact that 12.4% of the population have a disability (National Population and Housing Census, 2014)
Summary
As part of the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, all tertiary institutions across Uganda were required to shift to Open Distance and eLearning (ODeL). Institutions are not required to ensure that all remote learning activities, and in particular the LMS and its content, are accessible to students with disabilities, even though 12.4% of the population have a disability (National Population and Housing Census, 2014). Following the UN (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), 2020), we define people with disabilities as those who have long-term impairments that make it difficult for them to fully and effectively participate in society on an equal footing with others (Article 1). Accessibility of a VLE should cover all student, administrator, and teacher functions, including editing and content authoring, with prompts for features such as alternative text descriptions of figures/images, content and formatting of documents posted on the system, and system modification in the case of open source software (Hersh, 2008)
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