1. Accessible Course Materials
for Students With Dyslexia at
K.U.Leuven
Nadia Diraä, Bert Frees, Jan
Engelen, Christophe Strobbe
K.U.Leuven, Belgium
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
2. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
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Founded in 1425
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38.568 students (2010-2011)
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Since 1973: support of students with
disabilities by multidisciplinary working
group
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Research
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ICT accessibility (DocArch)
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Learning disabilities (Fac Psych & Edu)
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Accessibility of built environment
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
3. Accessibility Working Groups
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Physical accessibility working group
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Digital accessibility working group
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representatives from
– ICTS Board
– ICTS services (e.g. e-learning, SAP)
– library services
– student support services
– student representative
– accessibility experts
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
5. Students with Dyslexia
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Dyslexia: disorder characterised by
persistent problem with acquiring and
applying reading and/or spelling at
word level. Typical problems:
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slow and inaccurate reading
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poor spelling
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difficulty with note taking during
lectures
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more time required for written tasks
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
6. Students with Dyslexia
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Students with dyslexia = 40% of
students with a disability
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Compare Netherlands:
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14.000 out of 500.000 students (3%)
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The use of a text reader has a
statistically significant impact on text
comprehension by students
(Dimmitt et al, 2006; Draffan et al 2006)
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
7. Project – support for dyslexia
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Project to evaluate the impact of the
use of assistive technology (AT) for
dyslexia
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Impact of two types of software
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a comprehensive reading, writing and learning
software solution for students with special
needs
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software that adds speech and language
technology to a desktop apps so students can
listen to documents, Web pages, email,…
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
8. Survey 2008-2009
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21 students, interviewed 3 times:
1.start: focus on their experience with
ICT and their diagnosis of dyslexia
2.after first exams: focus on possibilities
of the AT, the problems and needs the
students have faced, usability, and
possible improvements
3.before exams in June: evaluation of the
project by the students
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
9. Survey Findings
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Students need certain basic IT skills
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Both ATs require training for optimal
use
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Important preconditions
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availability of digital course materials
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authorisation to use ICT during courses
and assessments
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computer skills
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
10. Survey Findings
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Some students dropped out from the
survey
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due to lack of digital course materials
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scanning readers and handbooks is too
time-consuming
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advantage of the AT did not outweigh
the time they expected to need for
scanning books and other materials
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
11. Additional Support for Students
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Online form with which students can
request digital version of courses and
books
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2009-2010: # of requests rose to 60
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workflow needed to be improved
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agreements with publishers
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alternate format only available to the
student who requested it
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
12. Digital Course Materials 2010-’11
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199 requests by 44 students
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alternative versions provided for 158
requests (79%)
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121 alternative versions (77%) were
downloaded by the students
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=> 39% of requests either not granted
by publishers or not downloaded by
students
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Average time: 23 days
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
13. Digital Course Materials 2010-’11
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Publishers:
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66 different publishers were contacted
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78 requests went to 1 single publisher,
who granted all these request
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38 requests went to a publisher who
granted 82% of these requests
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
14. Conclusions
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Average waiting time (23 days) makes
it difficult for students to plan properly
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But students should also request books
sooner
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Distribution of digital format through e-
learning system is not efficient
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Working with University Library Services
to find a more efficient solution
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
15. K.U.L. Digital Accessibility Website
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www.kuleuven.be/digitaletoeganke
lijkheid/
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Guidelines on web accessibility &
document accessibility (MS Word)
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5 videos on dyslexia
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link collection
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archives of past conferences
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...
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011
