K.U. Leuven has been working to improve accessibility and support for students with dyslexia by providing accessible digital course materials and assistive technologies. A survey of students found that while the technologies were helpful, many students dropped out due to a lack of accessible materials. In response, K.U. Leuven established processes to request digital versions of texts from publishers, but the average 23 day wait time made planning difficult for students. Moving forward, K.U. Leuven aims to distribute materials more efficiently through the university library and continue improving support for students with dyslexia.

1. Accessible Course Materials
for Students With Dyslexia at
K.U.Leuven
Nadia Diraä, Bert Frees, Jan
Engelen, Christophe Strobbe
K.U.Leuven, Belgium
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

2. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
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Founded in 1425
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38.568 students (2010-2011)
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Since 1973: support of students with
disabilities by multidisciplinary working
group
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Research
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ICT accessibility (DocArch)
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Learning disabilities (Fac Psych & Edu)
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Accessibility of built environment
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

3. Accessibility Working Groups
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Physical accessibility working group
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Digital accessibility working group
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representatives from
– ICTS Board
– ICTS services (e.g. e-learning, SAP)
– library services
– student support services
– student representative
– accessibility experts
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

4. Students with Disabilities
Disability Type 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009
Motor/mobility disability 44 51 37
Hearing impairment 16 22 27
Visual impairment 24 31 37
Chronic illness 91 112 164
Psychiatric (incl. ADHD,…) 97 209 334
Multiple 10 16 27
Other 5 6 10
Learning disability (dyslexia, 201 187 254
…)
Total 488 634 890
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

5. Students with Dyslexia
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Dyslexia: disorder characterised by
persistent problem with acquiring and
applying reading and/or spelling at
word level. Typical problems:
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slow and inaccurate reading
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poor spelling
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difficulty with note taking during
lectures
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more time required for written tasks
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

6. Students with Dyslexia
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Students with dyslexia = 40% of
students with a disability
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Compare Netherlands:
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14.000 out of 500.000 students (3%)
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The use of a text reader has a
statistically significant impact on text
comprehension by students
(Dimmitt et al, 2006; Draffan et al 2006)
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

7. Project – support for dyslexia
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Project to evaluate the impact of the
use of assistive technology (AT) for
dyslexia
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Impact of two types of software
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a comprehensive reading, writing and learning
software solution for students with special
needs
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software that adds speech and language
technology to a desktop apps so students can
listen to documents, Web pages, email,…
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

8. Survey 2008-2009
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21 students, interviewed 3 times:
1.start: focus on their experience with
ICT and their diagnosis of dyslexia
2.after first exams: focus on possibilities
of the AT, the problems and needs the
students have faced, usability, and
possible improvements
3.before exams in June: evaluation of the
project by the students
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

9. Survey Findings
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Students need certain basic IT skills
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Both ATs require training for optimal
use
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Important preconditions
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availability of digital course materials
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authorisation to use ICT during courses
and assessments
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computer skills
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

10. Survey Findings
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Some students dropped out from the
survey
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due to lack of digital course materials
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scanning readers and handbooks is too
time-consuming
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advantage of the AT did not outweigh
the time they expected to need for
scanning books and other materials
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

11. Additional Support for Students
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Online form with which students can
request digital version of courses and
books
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2009-2010: # of requests rose to 60
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workflow needed to be improved
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agreements with publishers
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alternate format only available to the
student who requested it
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

12. Digital Course Materials 2010-’11
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199 requests by 44 students
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alternative versions provided for 158
requests (79%)
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121 alternative versions (77%) were
downloaded by the students
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=> 39% of requests either not granted
by publishers or not downloaded by
students
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Average time: 23 days
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

13. Digital Course Materials 2010-’11
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Publishers:
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66 different publishers were contacted
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78 requests went to 1 single publisher,
who granted all these request
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38 requests went to a publisher who
granted 82% of these requests
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

14. Conclusions
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Average waiting time (23 days) makes
it difficult for students to plan properly
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But students should also request books
sooner
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Distribution of digital format through e-
learning system is not efficient
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Working with University Library Services
to find a more efficient solution
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011

15. K.U.L. Digital Accessibility Website
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www.kuleuven.be/digitaletoeganke
lijkheid/
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Guidelines on web accessibility &
document accessibility (MS Word)
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5 videos on dyslexia
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link collection
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archives of past conferences
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...
AEGIS Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 29-30 November 2011