AccessAbility Project Report

Aims

The aim of the project was to facilitate literacy development through access to World Wide Web sites that have been modified to accommodate limited literacy skills and physical access difficulties. The target group comprised individuals with physical and/or intellectual disability, often resulting in severe communication impairment (SCI), who had limitations in literacy skills (i.e., some word, sentence and text reading skills). The specific aim was to develop a model Website that (1) required basic literacy skills only; (2) incorporated a literacy training component; and (3) facilitated the use of varied alternative computer access techniques.

Description

There were two stages to the project. Stage 1 focused on the assessment of the reading and phonological awareness (PA) skills (i.e., the ability to attend consciously to the sound structure of language) of the target group, and interviewing them about their reading and computer activities (including use of the internet). Stage 2 incorporated the development and trial of a reading intervention web site as it evolved through increasingly advanced versions. There were 40 participants in Stage 1, most of whom had cerebral palsy and a SCI. All participants were administered a reading and PA assessment protocol, that was designed to allow nonspeech responses. These skills were assessed as a way of contributing to the knowledge base on the reading skills and potential of people with disability, in particular, those with SCI, and also to determine those participants who would be suitable for inclusion in the intervention stage of the project (Stage 2).

At total of 22 participants proceeded to Stage 2, which focused on the development and trial of a web-based intervention for reading texts from other web sites. These participants received a computer access assessment and appropriate assistive technology, if required. They participated in intervention using a basic early version of the web site. Focus group discussions held at the end of the trial intervention assisted with further development of the site. A number of features designed to assist with access and to provide practice in reading and comprehending texts were incorporated into the site for use in the next stage of intervention. These texts were selected from various web sites related to interests of the participants. They were modified in terms of reading ease and layout presentation (the latter to accommodate alternative computer access). The final version of the site, with a crucial feature of speech output, was not available until the final months of the project.

Progress data on 15 participants indicated that they found most texts in the intervention, in the main, to be interesting. Furthermore, the participant ratings for reading ease ranged from very easy to very difficult. Contrasting text layout versions (cumulative and full text) appeared to cater to different participant preferences. Reassessment data for select reading and PA tasks for 13 participants failed to indicate any improvements in reading comprehension; however, this outcome was not surprising in light of the technical difficulties experienced by the team in incorporating all features that were designed to assist reading comprehension.

The project, conducted over a two year period, in two cities (Sydney and Melbourne) resulted a number of outcomes and provided the team with lessons that can inform future projects. These outcomes are summarised below.

Outcomes

1. Reading and PA assessment protocol for use with people with disability, including those with severe communication impairment. This protocol will be further developed in a follow-up project and made freely available through the Web.
2. Contribution to the understanding of the reading and PA skills of people with SCI. The results of this study were compared with that in the research literature, thereby contributing to that knowledge base.
3. Participants in Stage 2 who were not able to efficiently access the computer were provided with a computer access assessment, as well as appropriate assistive technology and instruction in its use.
4. All participants received an individual report of their reading and PA skills.
5. An accessible reading intervention site was created, which incorporates features designed to assist in the intervention process (e.g., speech output), and is available to all internet users from the Project's home page: http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/accessability
6. Participants in Stage 2 received direct instruction in reading comprehension using the accessible intervention web site.
7. A best practice model and set of standards for the design of web sites for people with disability and limited literacy skills was developed from the work of this project. These standards are presented a the end of the Executive Summary.

Lessons Learnt

1. Most people in the target group wished to improve their reading skills, noting a number of potential benefits to being better readers.
2. Problems with the reading and PA assessment protocol were detected, resulting in modifications to certain tasks.
3. Accessibility guidelines need to directly address the issue of reading ease of material, since early work on the project indicated that most material of interest to the target group ranged in reading ease from difficult to very difficult.
4. Web sites need to be trialed across different locations, by users of varied computer proficiency.
5. Resolution of technical difficulties with web design need to be resolved independently of the reading intervention conducted with participants. This strategy may reduce "burn-out" that some people with disability appear to experience in such research and development work.
6. The high level of interest in the internet by people with disability highlights the need to find ways of making the web accessible, and provide them with opportunities to use it on a regular basis.
7. Many people with disability will continue to require assistance in order to use the web. This is required in addition to the provision of appropriate assistive technology and training in its use.
8. As is the case for people without disability, access to technical assistance by people with disability facilitates the availability of reliable internet and computer access, while increasing independence in using this technology.
9. Focus groups provide a valuable way of evaluating a project at different stages and of involving participants more fully.
10. Close liaison and regular communication with staff working with participants is needed throughout a project such as this.

Standards for the Design of Websites

These standards are recommended for designing Web sites that will assist with literacy intervention. It should be noted that the target group is those whose reading skills are beyond the single word level: That is, people who read at a sentence to paragraph level, but experience difficulty in extracting meaning from the text because of limitations in reading comprehension skills.

Web Design

Make sure Web content is accessible to people with disabilities by following the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines . Of particular relevance to the aims of this project, are the following guidelines.

1. Use markup style sheets and do so properly (Guideline 3).
2. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully (i.e., to ensure that the site can be accessed using earlier versions of browsers) (Guideline 6).
3. Design for device-independence (see below on nonreliance on a mouse) (Guideline 9).
4. Use W3C technologies and guidelines (Guideline 11).
5. Provide context and orientation information (in particular, divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate) (Guideline 12).
6. Provide clear navigable mechanisms (in particular, provide clear Link text - see below) (Guideline 13).
7. Ensure that the documents are clear and simple (in particular, use the clearest and simplest language, and create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages) (Guideline 14).

Other/Complementary Guidelines for Web Page Layout

1. Ensure that the web pages have a "clean" design. Include only information that is relevant to the task of reading comprehension and navigation within the page and the web site (no graphics).
2. Use large print - at least 24 point.
3. Use smaller print to differentiate a previously read line of text from a new line of text.
4. Ensure good contrast between background and print:
   • use black on white for the body of the text
   • use red to highlight words for speech output and for "feedback text" (e.g., "CORRECT" for correct selection of comprehension question response; "Try again" for incorrect question response).
5. Use text links rather than pictures or icons.
6. Provide keyboard shortcuts for all mouse actions to ensure that the site can be navigated with the keyboard only or through alternative keyboard input (e.g., switch access, expanded keyboards).
7. Position links, with their identified keyboard shortcuts at the top of each page of text.
8. Use keyboard shortcuts that require only one selection to activate a link whenever possible (e.g., use of "n" for "next line" is preferable to "tab" then "enter"). This strategy reduces the number of selections required using either direct selection of a keyboard/alternate keyboard or a scanning array.
9. Keep the number of links on a page to a minimum.
10. Cater to different user preferences for text presentation - present in cumulative version (i.e., allows the user to bring up one line at a time) as well as a whole text version (the whole text is available by scrolling down the page).
11. Provide navigation links to previous pages or the top of the page.
12. Use automatic scrolling to ensure new information that appears at the bottom of a page is easily detected.
13. Program speech output within the web page, thereby avoiding the need to download and purchase new software, or to cut and paste information from the web site to another program.
14. Provide link to the original site from where text from the web was obtained, thereby allowing users to view and practice with the original text and layout version.

Guidelines for Simplifying Complex Text

1. Check Flesch reading ease/ reading grade level using the "Grammar Check" option on Word™ or its equivalent in other word processing programs (see the statistics output at the end of the grammar check).
2. Remove ambiguity by making the meaning explicit.
3. Reduce long sentences to 2 or 3 shorter ones.
4. Make sure referents are clear (e.g., use a name rather than pronoun when the original referent is more than one sentence removed).
5. Simplify complex vocabulary.
6. Expand acronyms to provide full titles.
7. Indicate the speaker when direct quotes are used.
8. Re-check reading ease/ reading grade level and aim for a Flesch reading score of at least 10 more or one grade level lower than the original version.

Guidelines for Facilitating Text Comprehension

1. Choose samples of text that relate to the user's interests.
2. Provide a number of texts to allow the user a choice from different topics.
3. Have speech output available for individual words, thereby enabling a user to confirm his/her reading of a word.
4. Have speech output available for complete sentences, but encourage the user to attempt to read the text prior to using speech output.
5. Provide comprehension questions at the end of text. Try to include questions about the gist of the text, specific details, and ones that require the user to infer beyond the information presented in the text.
6. Provide clues for each question, using relevant sections of the text, thereby allowing the user to re-read these sections.
7. Have the clues appear on the question page, so as to avoid a "visual jump."
8. Encourage use of clues rather than guessing or a process of elimination when answering questions.
9. Encourage discussion about the questions and their answers - especially for inferential questions, in which the clues may be of limited assistance.
10. Encourage re-reading of texts.
11. Encourage reading an easier version of a text if problems are experienced with a harder version.
12. Encourage reading a harder version of a text if the user is able to read the easier version without difficulty.

Comments to Teresa Iacono