Considering the paramount importance of the topic, the University of Turin is continuously committed to the issue of accessibility and inclusion, through the implementation of accessibility of institutional websites, the training of teaching and technical staff, the creation of guidelines on the subject and, recently, the design and implementation of online training course for peer tutors to students with disabilities and specific learning disorders.
To further support the journey toward accessibility, the IT Systems, Website Management, E-learning Division of the University undertook a comprehensive search for a tool that could prove beneficial in the creation of accessible teaching content. The research led to the Brickfield Accessibility Toolkit (https://www.brickfield.ie/), a tool developed to test content on Moodle. The tool not only analyzes the accessibility of each individual item in a course, but also provides feedback and suggestions for solving the problems detected. A meeting with the developers enabled a better understanding of the potential of this toolkit, therefore a six-month pilot project (expiring in October 2024) has now commenced, which will test the accessibility of 20 courses.
A dedicated space on a Moodle platform provided by Brickfield will be used for the project. The tool will be introduced to selected teachers during kick-off meetings. Lecturers will then have access to the platform and will receive step-by-step support in the use of the tool.
The main goal of the project is to understand whether the tool can be included among the resources that the University of Turin makes available to faculty to foster the improvement of accessibility. To this end, focus groups will be planned at the end of the project, to determine the actual effectiveness and usability of the tool.