Section 508 and Game-based Learning – a Disability Mismatch?
Why is it hard to make game-based learning Section 508 compliant? Can persons with disabilities profit from game-based learning?
By Heera Edwin
Published on February 07 20171/27/2020Updated on January 27 2020
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Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans suffers from some form of disability? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17.5 percent of persons with a disability were employed in 2015. The government has taken steps to cater to the needs of this group of individuals in the workplace, and Section 508 is one such provision.
Section 508 requires all federal agencies, and private organizations that receive federal funds, to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. This means that even online learning courses must be made compliant. This is not a problem with regular eLearning courses because eLearning authoring tools such as Lectora Inspire, Articulate Storyline, and Adobe Captivate have the capability to create Section 508 compliant courses.
The problem arises when game-based learning (GBL) comes [...]