Abstract:

Digital accessibility addresses the ability of people with different disabilities to access modern digital resources such as the internet. When online services are correctly designed, developed and edited, more users have equal access to information and functionality.

To ensure digital accessibility for everyone, EU has created legislation and standards to support digital accessibility. The WCAG 2.1 and EN 301 549 V2.1.2 standards, based on EU accessibility directives, define the EU´s accessibility requirements in technical detail. Since these standards contain a lot of condensed information, education systems should support the transition towards accessible digital society. Technical, and sometimes complicated accessibility requirements can be fulfilled only if effective courses and other learning possibilities are offered by the education systems. To reach the goal, using, experimenting and evaluating pedagogical models is important.

The article describes the use of Laurea's LbD model (Learning by Developing) in a summer course for master's level students. To conclude, the LbD pedagogical model seems to produce promising results for all parties, from students to project partners. 91% of the students with accessibility assignments felt that the LbD model offers better learning opportunities than traditional teaching based only on lectures and exercises. The real-life customer offering the course projects graded the quality of the students´ accessibility evaluations with an average grade of 4.5 out of 5. In addition, important product development information about the tools used in the course was delivered to the student course's partner company as evidence of the side benefits of the LbD model.

Keywords:

Accessibility, LbD pedagogy, higher education.