What Tools are Used for Virtual Exchanges?
A 2013 pilot study on “Mapping Use and Opinion of Virtual Exchange in International Education,” surveyed 273 international exchange staff members about their involvement in international virtual exchanges. Of those surveyed, only 23% had been involved in virtual exchange at any stage of the planning and execution process. While most (60%) favored Skype as the technology platform of choice, many used tools such as Blackboard Collaborate, GoToMeeting, social media networks, Google Hangouts, and Adobe Connect to facilitate the exchange.
While we don’t know whether accessibility factored into their decision about which platform to use, knowing which tools have which accessibility features will help you make an informed decision when choosing a platform that can accommodate users with and without disabilities. Remember, you won’t always know ahead of time whether you’ll have a participant with a disability, so it’s a good idea to plan for access from the start!
Platforms for E-Learning and Virtual Conferencing
Adobe Connect
Although pricy, Adobe Connect has several features that promote accessibility. Users can enable its Closed Captioning Pod to make captions available for Deaf or hard of hearing participants, or anyone else who can benefit from captions for that matter. Note: the Pod is merely a tool to embed captions into the presentation; you will have to supply or hire a captionist to do the actual captioning! Most companies that provide captioning services are already familiar with captioning for virtual conferencing platforms.
Adobe Connect also offers screenreader and keyboard navigation capabilities for blind and low vision participants, although they may need to be skilled at using these.
Blackboard Collaborate (Elluminate)
- Becoming more popular as an accessible option
GoTo Meeting (Citrix)
- Has received some criticism for being inaccessible
Webex (Cisco)
VoiceThread
- Videos can be captioned for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing
- Audio files cannot be made accessible for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. However, a workaround is to include a transcript with the audio file.
- The traditional VoiceThread platform is not completely accessible to screenreaders. However, there is a VoiceThread Universal platform that is specifically designed for use with screenreaders.
Video Conferencing/Chat
Google Hangout
Skype
Lync?
Spreecast
Documents/Document Hosting
Google Applications (Google Docs, Google Drive, etc.)
- Some Google applications can be challenging for participants with disabilities, as certain aspects do not always work effectively with assistive technology.
- PDFs can be made accessible, however, many accessibility experts suggest avoiding or minimizing the use of PDFs due to the significant time/cost it can take to make a PDF accessible.
- If the PDF layout is simple (mostly text with limited graphics), the process for developing an accessible PDF is possible, even for someone with limited experience.
Microsoft Word
- With relatively small adjustments in your document development process, documents can be made accessible.
Microsoft Powerpoint
- With relatively small adjustments in your slide design process, documents can be made accessible.
Web Forms
SurveyGizmo
- Options available to increase contrast for low vision users
- Easy navigation using a keyboard (screenreaders and voice-input programs depend on keyboard navigation to access documents independently)
- Generally works well with screenreaders
- No way to input alternate text if you want to use your organization’s logo on the form
SurveyMonkey
- Difficult to navigate with a keyboard (screenreaders and voice-input programs depend on keyboard navigation to access documents independently)
