Health Education for the Blind: Evaluation of Accessibility of an Inclusive Online Course

Abstract

This article provides a presentation of the method used to guarantee the accessibility and usability of an online course for blind women. The course discusses breast cancer with a focus on early detection, with a view to granting these women a new form of learning about breast cancer. In this paper, the evaluation of the accessibility of HTML pages was presented by the use of specific software. In addition, it presents the accessibility and usability for blind women in a course in a virtual learning environment. The accessibility evaluation using the software revealed 21 errors. When the blind women accessed the virtual learning environment, sporadic barriers were identified, such as difficulties for registering and using the forum. These were bypassed and the participants defined the access to the online course as satisfactory. This study aims to bring awareness to online education and health professionals about the accessibility of online courses. With regard to health promotion, the importance of this study is clear owing to the lack of educational resources in health for visually impaired people, in addition to the importance of the timeliness of the topic owing to the magnitude of the issue of breast cancer around the world.

Breast Health to Blind Woman: Validation of Accessible Online Course

“…The number of websites and the amount of information contained on the Internet has increased significantly, making this means of communication as a fundamental tool for the blind and seers [18]. It is increasingly significant the number of visually impaired people using online education.…”

Assistive technology for visually impaired women for use of the female condom: a validation study

“…It is important that health education and the content of the communication be built in an accessible format to ensure that users with disabilities are fully able to obtain resources and use them whenever necessary (15). The visually DP requires specific resources to facilitate the acquisition of www.ee.usp.br/reeusp Rev Esc Enferm USP · 2015; 49(1):14-21 knowledge, with the aim of complementing the process of teaching and learning (16) .…”

“…It is important for nurses to develop inclusive educational materials based on the concept of universal design so that they are accessible to all people (15) . However, this situation is still short of what is expected.…”

The Effect of a Training Video With Audio Description on the Breast Self-Examinations of Women With Visual Impairments

“…Today, materials such as brochures and booklets prepared in braille, audiobooks, and three-dimensional (3D) models are used in the health education of people who are visually impaired. These educational materials need to be developed and be accessible to all people with visual impairments (Carvalho et al, 2014, 2015; Cruz et al, 2015). In recent years, audio description has been used frequently to make visual elements more accessible to people with visual impairments (Hutchinson & Eardley, 2020; Ludíková & Finková, 2012; Romero-Fresco & Fryer, 2013; Walczak, 2017).…”

“…During menopause, women are advised to examine themselves regularly on the same day every month (Albeshan et al, 2020;Rajan, 2012;Turkey Health Ministry, 2018;WHO, 2006). Breast self-examination should be taught to women who are visually impaired for diagnosis of breast abnormalities (Carvalho et al, 2014(Carvalho et al, , 2015Cruz et al, 2015;Merten et al, 2015;Rajan, 2012;Sulyvan de Castro et al, 2013).…”