Funka examines e-learning systems
Funka was commissioned by the Swedish National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, SPSM, to examine the major learning management systems, LMS, on the Swedish market. The result was mixed, and partially quite disappointing. Some of the systems have large accessibility gaps and risk to completely exclude certain groups of students.
I’m surprised of the broad lack of accessible systems, comments Andreas Cederbom, Responsible for the Analysis Unit at Funka.
Funka and SPSM see two immediate needs:
- Educating the end customer in order for municipalities and other customers to set the right requirements from the beginning when procuring learning systems. All too often, the accessibility of the end client’s website is quite good, but the customer tend to loose the accessibility perspective when systems are being purchased from external suppliers. The result may be that students with special needs are not getting the same opportunities as others.
- Educating the suppliers in order for them to understand the importance of meeting the requirements. In the long run, inaccessible learning systems should be impossible to sell.
Funding: Swedish National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, SPSM
Time period: 2009