Authors:
Răzvan Rughiniș
1
and
Cosima Rughiniș
2
Affiliations:
1
University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania
;
2
University of Bucharest, Romania
Keyword(s):
Accessibility, Design, Motivation, Education, Blind Users, Aesthetics.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Accessibility to Disabled Users
;
Computer-Supported Education
;
e-Learning
;
Engineering Education and Ethics
;
Instructional Design
;
Learning/Teaching Methodologies and Assessment
;
Social Context and Learning Environments
;
Ubiquitous Learning
Abstract:
We analyze current approaches in motivating students to pursue accessibility, with a focus on blind users, by examining scientific reports of courses in the computer science and engineering curriculum. We identify three main motivational resorts: a ‘web of arguments’, referring to issues of morality, legality, and interest; the practice of mainstreaming, which normalizes accessibility, and empathy. We argue that an aesthetic frame could contribute to a forceful, persistent motivation, and we propose an aesthetic motivational repertoire, on three dimensions: aesthetic value of technological tools, of engineers’ own work, and of their direct and indirect relationships with blind persons. We present arguments, practices, and online resources to support teachers that introduce accessibility for blind users to sighted students.