Digital Accessibility: A Fundamental Right in Education
Access to education is a fundamental right. With increasing digitization of teaching (LMS, MOOCs, virtual classrooms), ensuring digital accessibility is essential so that all students, including those with disabilities, can pursue their studies under equal conditions.
In France, universities and public educational institutions are subject to RGAA. Private training platforms (Edtech) are covered by the EAA. The situation is alarming: according to a 2024 study, fewer than 10% of LMS platforms in France achieve over 50% RGAA compliance.
LMS Platforms and Their Accessibility
Moodle, the most widely used open-source LMS in French higher education, has accessibility that depends heavily on configuration. The default "Boost" theme has a good accessibility foundation, but custom themes can introduce regressions. Canvas has made significant efforts with a published VPAT.
Accessible Educational Documents
Presentations should use slide masters, alt text for images, proper reading order, and sufficient contrast. Word documents should use heading styles and the built-in accessibility checker. Mathematical formulas should use MathML or LaTeX rather than formula images.
Accessible Course Videos
Course videos must include synchronized subtitles (auto-generated ones need verification), text transcriptions, audio descriptions for visual-only content, and keyboard-accessible player controls.
Accessible Online Exams
Online exams must include configurable extra time, accessible MCQ questions using radio button groups with fieldset/legend, keyboard alternatives for drag-and-drop, accessible timers, and autosave functionality.
An inaccessible course is not an inclusive course. Training teachers in digital accessibility is as important as training developers.