Accessible lifelong learning at higher education:outcomes and lessons Learned at two different PilotSites in the EU4ALL Project

Abstract

[EN] The EU4ALL project (IST-FP6-034778) has developed a general framework to
\naddress the needs of accessible lifelong learning at Higher Education level consisting of several
\nstandards-based interoperable components integrated into an open web service architecture
\naimed at supporting adapted interaction to guarantee students' accessibility needs. Its flexibility
\nhas supported the project implementation at several sites with different settings and various
\nlearning management systems. Large-scale evaluations involving hundreds of users,
\nconsidering diverse disability types, and key staff roles have allowed obtaining valuable lessons
\nwith respect to "how to adopt or enhance eLearning accessibility" at university. The project was
\nevaluated at four higher education institutions, two of the largest in Europe and two mediumsized.
\nIn this paper, we focus on describing the implementation and main conclusions at the
\nlargest project evaluation site (UNED), which was involved in the project from the beginning,
\nand thus, in the design process, and a medium-sized university that adopted the EU4ALL
\napproach (UPV). This implies dealing with two well-known open source learning environments
\n(i.e. dotLRN and Sakai), and considering a wide variety of stakeholders and requirements. Thus
\nthe results of this evaluation serve to illustrate the coverage of both the approach and
\ndevelopments.