Online readiness in universities from disabled students’ perspective

Abstract

The aim of online universities is to increase learning accessibility for all students. After some years of existence, online higher education should be analysed in terms of its preparedness to meet the learning needs of people with disabilities. This paper presents a study that sheds light on the level of readiness of online higher education institutions by examining students’ views of a well-established online university, using a research-based questionnaire. The research involves all students with disabilities studying at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), with an effective participation of 421 students. The conclusion of the paper is generally highly positive concerning the extent to which the university has overcome barriers and provided satisfactory academic accommodations. However, the results do indicate a need for a more comprehensive and specific solutions for dealing with unmet needs, especially for those students with mental disabilities.