Author: Simon Wilkinson, simon.wilkinson@nottingham.ac.uk

Author: Heather Rai, heather.rai@nottingham.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: e-Assessment

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine

This case study illustrates...use of specialist software, an effect on exam results, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, an influence on educational research, staff personal development, a positive effect on recruitment, a positive effect on retention, an influence on policy, use of resources, modifications to learning spaces, management of learning assets, an effect on social equality

Technology Used

What technologies and/or e-tools were available to you?

For severe forms of disability there are screen readers and Braille tablets but accommodating less severe forms of disability can be challenging. Most modern browsers can alter the size of text and force background colours but these are quite crude devices. Within an assessment system there are a number of different colours that are used: background, foreground, headings, number of marks, and notes. Failure to adequately consider certain forms of adaptation at the design stage can lead to unsightly images whose backgrounds do not change because it was assumed that the background would always be white. Also, the accessibility capabilities of a browser would not know about any extra time permitted for a dyslexic student, for example. It was therefore decided that the assessment system itself should be redesigned to provide more flexibility.