Education and research news, views and commentary from the team at UCEM
In July 2023 the Learning Technologies team at UCEM managed a significant upgrade to the VLE. An earlier blog post covers the ways in which we involved staff and students in the testing and evaluation of the upgrade. Now that the dust has settled, the team has had an opportunity to evaluate the upgrade project, identifying potential risks, concerns, and best practice for future Learning Technology projects.
The UCEM Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is built on a Learning Management System called Moodle. Every few years, Moodle implements what is known as a Major Release. In early 2022 we learned that the next major upgrade from Version 3.11 to Version 4.0 would be occurring later that year. Release notes and information from Moodle made it clear this was a significant overhaul of the platform, aiming to improve navigation, accessibility, and overall user experience. We realised this upgrade would require more planning from the Learning Technology team than a typical VLE upgrade would.
Creating accessible content is the right thing to do, both legally and morally. Sometimes the steps required to make content accessible can seem daunting, and the impact is not always obvious. Is it really worth all the extra time and effort? Does it really make a difference?
Inspiration for following accessible practices can be found in the strangest places – like a distant universe…