Linking research & learning technologies through standards

The Technical Standards for Digital Education project’s accessibility activity was primarily focused on investigating the potential impact of new web accessibility guidelines on schools sector e-learning content.  In December 2008, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released a new version of the de facto international standard for web accessibility called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). In response, the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in consultation with The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) undertook a consultation process with government departments during 2009 in preparation for a transition to WCAG 2.0 as a government requirement for web content. A transition timetable was released in 2010.

The implementation of the new accessibility requirements should bring benefits for learners accessing web and e-learning content in schools. However, there will need to be support provided to web content developers, teachers and IT staff in order to facilitate the transition.

Within this context, the aim of our accessibility work was as follows:

• Build capability and assist the schools sector to understand the potential impact, challenges and opportunities WCAG 2.0 could present for the Australian schools sector
• Provide advice to DEEWR relating to AGIMO WCAG 2.0 consultations

In collaboration with a dedicated focus group, we investigated potential implications, current trends and barriers to accessibility of web content. In addition, the activity converted some existing e-learning content to comply to WCAG 2.0 requirements to gain a practical understanding of the potential challenges. All of these findings as well as recommendations for further action for Australian governments have been documented in the final report.

Late last year Link Affiliates carried out some research for the Australian Flexible Learning Framework’s E-Standards for Training business activity to

identify and document the potential applications of a trust federation approach in the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector

We were asked to create use cases (scenarios) that clarify the benefits of a VET trust federation, and to identify appropriate technologies for each scenario (the research brief recognised that different technologies might be appropriate for different scenarios).

The resulting analysis identified a number of VET services that could benefit from a trust federation, but also uncovered a complex trust environment with overlapping identity and service providers, and found that no single technology was appropriate for all of the use cases. This post summarises of our findings. Check out the report on the E-standards for Training website for full details … Read the rest of this entry »

For the last few years, tools to allow people to collaboratively annotate websites and other online objects have started to emerge as something researchers want. For example Annocryst is popular for collaboratively annotating 3D crystallographic models, and the University of Melbourne’s e-Scholarship Research Centre has identified online annotation as a highly desirable feature for their Online Heritage Resource Manager software.

However, there doesn’t seem to be a killer app for annotating web pages, and even Zotero — very popular in the e-Humanities — has limited uptake, since it only works in Firefox.

Ron Chernich (University of Queensland)’s live demonstration of a new annotation tool called Danno, at eResearch Australasia, was interesting for three reasons [abstract, presentation]: he explained why browser extensions are bad, he demonstrated an alternative approach using cross-browser javascript, and third, people started using it: right there, in the presentation!

What’s wrong with browser extensions

Most annotation tools used in e-research are browser extensions. While this has gotten the community a long way, there are limitations. In a nutshell:

• They’re completely browser-specific, multiplying development effort: a Firefox plugin has to be completely rewritten for IE, Safari, Opera, etc.
• They require installation and browser restart, increasing the barrier to entry. (Even that little bit matters)
• They run with a high level of privileges, potentially compromising user security.
• As they can conflict with a group’s Standard Operating Environment, they may require the approval and support of the IT department to install.

Danno: using cross-browser JavaScript

The UQ team were asked to develop a collaborative annotation service for the Atlas of Living Australia with one rule: no browser plugins. They took up the challenge,  finding a way to make  JavaScript work for any website. Their solution, Danno, works with two different models:

• “Danno-friendly” sites include some scripts at the top to add features like showing and editing any annotations on the current page.
• Unenhanced sites can be seen through a “Repeater” – effectively a single-use proxy server that injects the required JavaScript on the way through. Using a bookmarklet makes this a one-click operation for any page.

Getting JavaScript to work across all browsers is hard, of course. But they managed.

Result: people used it!

The really remarkable thing about the presentation was that no sooner had Ron shown the URL to the demo page, than audience members started spontaneously trying it out. It was pretty easy: hover over an annotation and click “Reply to Annotation”. Or find the “Dannotate” link (again, best used as a bookmarklet), and create a new one. You can even annotate regions within images. By taking away any requirement to install anything or even register as a user, participation just happened.

For comparison, there exists another tool, Diigo, with some of these features, and which can also operate without a plugin, but it is designed to require a username and password, retaining some barrier to entry.

No doubt, extensions like Zotero work well within in institution where there is IT support, a high level of engagement with a project, and everyone is using the same platform. But approaches like Danno might work better in distributed projects, with less engagement from prospective members (ie, barrier to entry matters more), and where support for a given browser extension cannot be guaranteed.