Functional requirements catalogue in the context of virtual classrooms for blind users

Abstract

An increasing number of developers of virtual classrooms offer keyboard support and additional features for improving accessibility. Especially blind users encounter barriers when participating in visually dominated synchronous learning sessions. The existent accessibility features facilitate their participation, but cannot guarantee an equal use in comparison to non-disabled users. This paper summarizes a requirements analysis including an evaluation of virtual classrooms concerning their conformance to common accessibility guidelines and support of non-visual work techniques. It concludes with a presentation of a functional requirements catalogue for accessible virtual classrooms for blind users derived from a user survey, the requirements analysis described and additional findings from literature reviews.