Toward truly accessible MOOCs for persons with cognitive impairments: a field study

Abstract

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) is an essential framework provided to the signatory States for improving their social inclusion, particularly with regard to the promotion of equal access to education (UN, 2007). It promotes their full participation in education systems, enabling them to define their professional project and, ultimately, to make their own choices in all areas of their lives (Ryan & Deci, 2000). It is well recognized that education is a decisive factor in shaping life-course and employability. Yet across the world, PWDs experience significantly lower employment rates than persons without disabilities, and when they are employed, have fewer opportunities to grow and develop their careers within a company or to evolve professionally in the job market (Hästbacka et al., 2016). One of the reasons given by both PWDs and employers is that they still face barriers to access education, and therefore have fewer professional qualifications than the general population (WHO, 2011). These difficulties are even more significant for individuals with mental health difficulties or cognitive impairments (e.g., memory disorders, attention disorders) who experience the lowest employment rates (Thornicroft et al., 2010) and are most often employed in a segregated environment (Verdonschot et al., 2009). The overall objective of our work is to further increase the access to education for PWDs, notably those with cognitive impairments (regardless of medical conditions), through new e-learning systems, to contribute to their professional and social inclusion. We focused primarily on MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) platforms, which are playing an increasingly important role in the academic and lifelong vocational training programs offered to the general population, and which are still growing strongly (Shah, 2019). Moreover, they are sufficiently flexible and adaptable to potentially ensure that content can be made accessible to as many learners as possible and that pedagogical approaches adapted to people with cognitive impairments can be used to support their learning.