Teaching Accessibility and Design-For-All in the Information and Communication Technology Curriculum: Three Case Studies of Universities in the United States, England, and Austria

Digital technologies allow people with disabilities to participate independently in society in ways they never could before. The full realization of these new opportunities remains elusive, though, because working professionals in the information and communication technology (ICT) field rarely receive adequate training in how to make digital ICT accessible to people with disabilities. Adding accessibility to the university ICT curriculum can help create a critical mass of ICT professionals with accessibility awareness and expertise to finally realize the full accessibility potential of digital technologies. This dissertation provides a rich informational context from which ICT curriculum leaders can decide how to best infuse accessibility into their own curriculum. Part I describes programs at three universities, documenting how and why the curriculum leaders created and implemented the curriculum. The three programs are: (a) the Web Sciences master’s degree program at the University of Linz in Austria, (b) the Instructional Technology master’s degree program at George Mason University in the United States, and (c) the Digital Inclusion master’s degree program at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom. Part II analyzes six main themes across the three programs: (a) the curriculum goals and rationale; (b) the curriculum design process, from idea to implementation; (c) defining the scope of the curriculum; (d) instructional materials and strategies; (e) instructional format and media choices; and (f) program sustainability (which proved to be one of the most important themes). Part III discusses accessibility and technology within the theoretical perspective of the Capability Approach, which is an approach to economic development that takes into account many variables in the quality of human life, not just financial measures. Digital technology plays a special role in increasing the quality of life of people with disabilities. The last section provides a list of ways to determine whether a curriculum adequately addresses accessibility issues or not