DACHS project is funded

DACHS (Digital Accessibility Checking and Simulation) is a new ZAB project funded by the Innovation in Higher Education Foundation for three years. During this time, an interactive portal is to be developed to raise awareness of barrier-free teaching among teachers.

The portal will provide simulations of different impairments to help teachers understand the needs of their students with disabilities. With the help of DACHS, teachers will be able to change their perspective and experience their materials and LMS courses (Moodle and Ilias) with impairments themselves. Provided instructions will enable them to create accessible digital teaching materials and courses. The system will allow testing of LMS courses and will directly check automatable accessibility test criteria. Manual accessibility testing will be innovatively programme-based and will not require any special technical knowledge. The portal will be connected to Moodle and ILIAS via a plug-in and will contain gamification elements to motivate teachers.

In addition, DACHS will offer prepared knowledge on the effects of disabilities in studies and practical suggestions for action to design barrier-free teaching in line with requirements. We are confident that DACHS will contribute to the sustainable integration of accessibility as a self-evident requirement in our own teaching and make studying more accessible for all.