Making the GRADE: Improving Access to E-Learning EDUCAUSE Southeast Regional Conference June 8, 2004

Copyright Statement Funded by the Office of Post Secondary Education (OPE) under Grant #P333A ©2003 All Rights Reserved, Georgia Tech Research Corporation.OPE

About GRADE The Georgia Tech Research on Accessible Distance Education (GRADE) project is funded by the Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education.

About GRADE GRADE is hosted at the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA), a center of the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)

GRADE Goals Development of partnerships. –GRADE works with an innovative private company and leading institutions and centers to provide quality professional development tools and dissemination opportunities.

GRADE Goals Focus on capacity building. –GRADE works to build the capacities of faculty members, administrators, staff, and students, with and without disabilities, to identify access problems and repair them.

GRADE Goals Involvement of students. –GRADE involves students with disabilities in its project, both as active participants and a target audience. –Georgia Tech students with disabilities play an important role in evaluating the access of distance learning products.

GRADE Goals Provision of equal access. –GRADE provides access to the project to a diverse set of individuals, including individuals with disabilities, people who live in underserved rural areas, and minority populations.

GRADE Tracks GRADE involves three tracks: –Professional Development –Barrier Removal –MERLOT database

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development GRADE has developed a ten-module tutorial designed to improve knowledge on accessible distance education for faculty, staff, administrators, and students, including people with disabilities, at Georgia Tech and other institutes of higher learning nationwide.

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development The objective of this tutorial is to increase the capacity of faculty and staff who use the curriculum to provide accessible distance learning for students with disabilities on a nationwide basis.

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development This tutorial has been developed by IDET Communications (IDET), an Atlanta-based private company which is developing software and strategies to improve access to distance learning.

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development The tutorial is available online at and consists of ten modules. Each module covers one segment of accessible online course design in the following areas:

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development –Issues for Accessibility in Distance Learning –Planning for Accessibility in Distance Learning –Making Microsoft PowerPoint Slides Accessible

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development –Making Online Video Files Accessible –Making Animations Accessible –Making Microsoft Word Documents Accessible –Making Microsoft Excel Documents Accessible

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development –Making Adobe PDF Documents Accessible –Making Common HTML Elements Accessible –Making Scripts and Java Accessible

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development Additionally, GRADE creates technical assistance materials, based on information in the tutorial, designed to provide a detailed summary of access issues, solutions, and tips for improving access.

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development GRADE also hosts a series of lunchtime roundtable discussions on the Georgia Tech campus for faculty members, staff and students, with and without disabilities, to share perspectives on access issues in distance education.

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development In 2005, GRADE will host a national leadership institute on accessibility in distance education. This institute will take place in Atlanta and will have speakers and presenters from around the country.

GRADE Tracks – Professional Development GRADE staff also has presented at a variety of strategic conferences on education and technology issues: –RESNA –MERLOT International Conference –Center for Distance Learning Research –C-Sloan

GRADE Tracks – Barrier Removal The second track focuses on removing barriers to online education at Georgia Tech.

GRADE Tracks – Barrier Removal It involves partnerships with the Georgia Tech Center for Distance Learning, the Center for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, and the Access Disabled Assistance Program for Tech Students (ADAPTS).

GRADE Tracks – Barrier Removal GRADE is working with these stakeholders to make Georgia Tech a model institution on accessibility to distance education.

GRADE Tracks – Barrier Removal GRADE worked to retrofit an existing online distance learning course as a model for complete accessibility. This course, relating to human factors in engineering, presents a special challenge because of its complexity and use of graphics and charts.

GRADE Tracks – Barrier Removal This course is available online at:

GRADE Tracks – Barrier Removal GRADE is working with faculty and staff at Georgia Tech and Georgia State University to improve accessibility in other distance education courses.

GRADE Tracks – MERLOT Database The third track involves a partnership between GRADE and the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and On-Line Teaching (MERLOT).

GRADE Tracks – MERLOT Database MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students in higher education. Information about MERLOT is available at

GRADE Tracks – MERLOT Database GRADE is working with MERLOT to develop voluntary standards for accessibility for distance learning.

GRADE Tracks – MERLOT Database These voluntary standards will be transmitted to all MERLOT members, together with information about the online courses, the tutorials and technical assistance materials developed by GRADE.

GRADE Tracks – MERLOT Database GRADE will review existing materials in the MERLOT database and will identify and document promising practices in accessibility of online distance learning materials.

GRADE Tracks – MERLOT Database GRADE will provide detailed technical assistance on the voluntary standards to MERLOT members who wish to retrofit learning elements for accessibility.

Contact Us GRADE website: – Access E-Learning website: – –Phone: (v/tty) –Fax: