Despite the popular claim that massive open online courses (MOOCs) can democratise educational opportunities, this study suggests that current MOOC platforms are not designed to be accessible and inclusive for learners with disabilities. Our main goals in this study were to identify the needs and barriers that learners with visual impairments face when learning with mobile devices in MOOCs and to make recommendations for designing MOOCs that are more accessible and inclusive. We conducted this study in two phases: a user study (Phase I) and a heuristic walkthrough (Phase II). In Phase I, we conducted a user study with three university students with visual impairments to identify their needs and the barriers to learning that they encounter in mobile MOOC platforms. In Phase II, five evaluators conducted a heuristic walkthrough based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (World Wide Web Consortium, 2008) to examine the degree of accessibility of a MOOC platform. Overall, the results indicate that serious accessibility issues exist in MOOC platforms, preventing learners with visual impairments from fully participating in learning activities. We conclude this paper by recommending ways to design mobile MOOCs to make them more accessible for learners with visual impairments.

中文翻译：

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数字平等和可访问的MOOC：为有视觉障碍的学习者提供的移动MOOC的可访问性评估

尽管人们普遍认为大规模开放式在线课程（MOOC）可以使教育机会民主化，但这项研究表明，当前的MOOC平台并非旨在为残疾学习者提供并具有包容性。这项研究的主要目标是确定在MOOC中使用移动设备进行学习时视力障碍学习者面临的需求和障碍，并为设计更易于访问和更具包容性的MOOC提供建议。我们分两个阶段进行了这项研究：用户研究（第一阶段）和启发式演练（第二阶段）。在第一阶段，我们与三位视力障碍的大学生进行了一项用户研究，以确定他们的需求以及他们在移动MOOC平台上遇到的学习障碍。在第二阶段 五名评估人员根据Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0（万维网联盟，2008年）进行了启发式演练，以检查MOOC平台的可访问性程度。总体而言，结果表明MOOC平台中存在严重的可访问性问题，从而阻止了视力障碍的学习者充分参与学习活动。我们通过建议设计移动MOOC的方法来结束本文，以使视障学生更容易使用它们。