Teaching and promoting web accessibility in virtual learning environments: A staff training experience in Latin-America

Constant evolution of technology triggers a large myriad of research related to accessibility in Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). In the same way, international initiatives provide guidelines to create accessible web content, but educational institutions, especially in Latin-America (LA), are not aware of the VLE barriers that could affect students with disabilities. The fulfillment of accessibility standards in a virtual campus provides benefits for all the academic community that in some cases could face difficulties to learn through the VLE. This work proposes an innovative practice to implement, promote and include accessibility features in a VLE through an intensive training workshop based on best practices. This approach is addressed to technical staff involved in the installation, maintenance and support of e-Learning solutions in academic institutions, with a special focus on software and web engineering. A first staff training experience was implemented in seven countries in LA with more than 180 participants from 52 different Higher Education Institutions (HEI). Results from the experience manifest a growing interest from HEIs in accessibility topics and encourage improving the workshop materials for new editions. The design of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) based on the workshop will allow the initiative to reach a broader audience.