NCAM staff lead an industry standards process within the IMS Global Learning Consortium that created and continues to maintain the Access for All metadata and user preference standards, now ISO/IEC Standard 24751.
In September 2012, Access for All version 3 was published as a public draft. The IMS Accessibility project group encourages implementers to use the new version and provide feedback. The documents are available from the IMS website, which also has a link to the public forum for discussion and feedback.
Access for All defines accessibility user preferences and corresponding resource metadata which describes the adaptability of a resource to meet diverse users’ needs. The Access for All standard was published by ISO/IEC and is designed to enable digital delivery systems to make a match between the needs of a particular user and the resources available. Currently work is underway in IMS to produce Access For All v3, which is integrating related work in the W3C', ISO/IEC's work on Metadata for Learning Resources, and the original Access for All model.
For information on the current status of Access for All, contact Project Director Madeleine Rothberg.
Resources:
IMS Accessibility Specifications
IMS Guidelines for Accessible Learning Applications
ISO/IEC Standard 24751: Individualized adaptability and accessibility in e-learning, education and training is available from ISO at no charge through their Publicly Available Standards program:
Part 1: Framework and reference model
Part 2: "Access for all" personal needs and preferences for digital delivery
Part 3: "Access for all" digital resource description