Considerations on Barriers to Effective E-learning toward Accessible Virtual Campuses

Nowadays, the implementation of virtual campuses is a reality, both in academic set‐ tings and in the workplace. However, there are several challenges associated with the implementation of effective learning outcomes via e-learning. In this chapter in partic‐ ular, the use of e-learning to reach students with disabilities and the barriers that they may have will be presented. In this sense, e-learning solutions adopted by several in‐ stitutions are encouraged to validate and promote accessibility in a virtual campus. A large myriad of research related to accessibility in distance education systems is avail‐ able in literature, and the most relevant studies and standards are presented in this chapter as a starting point for education institutions looking at improving the accessi‐ bility in their own virtual campuses. This work is intended to be relevant both to teachers and lecturers who use e-learning for their courses, and to those involved in the design, setup, and maintenance of e-learning systems, whether from a pedagogi‐ cal or technical perspective to take into account the accessibility for students with dis‐ abilities. This work will explore on the accessibility of the basic stone of the e-learning process, the learning objects. An analysis of the IMS AfA v3.0 specification will be presented as a starting point to develop an accessible and adaptable online course, based on the student’s preferences, within an accessible virtual campus.