Accessibility, Usability, and Universal Design in Online Engineering Education

Accessibility and usability have been fundamental concerns for instructional designs in online engineering education. With the prevalence of online professional development and course management systems (CMS), the delivery of accessible and user-friendly course materials become crucial to a successful online program. Government entities, including public universities like UW-Madison, are legally bounded by the regulations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requiring all web content is within reach of all users. Universal design principles go beyond accessibility requirements and advocate that designing online education for a diversity of user needs and circumstances enhances learning for everyone. In this paper, we explore key accessibility, usability, and universal design issues to see how user experiences in distance education have been optimized to benefit all users. We discuss current trends and potential best practices of effective distance teaching and learning in continuing education under recommended frameworks from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. We will share practical tips and lessons learned from our experiences developing online Engineering Master Degree Programs