Specifications for Accessible Learning Technologies

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