Web 2.0: Engaging Those with Learning Disabilities

Tools such as wikis, blogs, social bookmarking and social networking allow Web surfers to socialise and to easily create and share content with others. Through the use of these tools the Web is being transformed from "Read Only" to "Read/Write", and from being a medium in which information is only transmitted and consumed, into being a platform on which content can also be created, edited and shared. This type of Web has been given the new name Web 2.0. People with learning disabilities are almost completely absent from using Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis and blogs for several reasons. The Web accessibility guidelines (WCAG 1.0, ATAG 1.0, UAAG 1.0) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) target Web content creators and the developers of authoring and user agent tools oriented more towards a Web 1.0 based model where content is created by Web authors and consumed by Web surfers. This makes them less useful in a Web 2.0 environment. The guidelines also seem to prioritise the needs of sensory and mobility disabilities while paying less attention to cognitive and learning difficulties. In a three year study to be conducted at a university in the south west of England, I will try to develop an e-learning system based on Web 2.0 technologies using a participatory user-centred approach rather than mechanically follow the WCAG guidelines. This type of approach is expected to produce a more usable system and to enable a specific group of learning disability professionals to utilize Web 2.0 technologies. At the same time it will answer questions such as "Can health trainers with learning disability be involved in the design and development of software?" and "Can health trainers with learning disability use an integrated, Web 2.0 based, e-learning system to help them in their professional duties?" The project will also explore a set of best practices for the building and operation of such systems.