Participate 3.1.1 Access to Digital Communities

In this quest we were tasked to find out more about our true access to the internet and more importantly Digital Learning Communities. I was very relieved to find out that I had good speeds for my broadband access (ping 26 mms, Download 50.25 mbps and upload 9.14mbps) per www.speedtest.net powered by OOKLA. I was also good to learned that based on the area demographics of my residence that were in the mid rank by county based on the State of Ga. This could be better but it is great to find out there are programs in place, though in my opinion they need more attention and promotion to increase my ranking to broadband access and the ranking of others in less appealing demographics as well.

There are a lot of contributing factors that can impede students' opportunities to access digital learning. Some of the most mentioned include the parents level's of education, income, whether or not they fell the internet is of interest to them, computer ownership, and if they are impacted by a disability to name a few.

Elimination of the aforementioned barriers can come with the government's involvement to make broadband access affordable. There are several programs like Internet Essentials from Comcast (www.internetessentials.com/‎), Computers for Classrooms ( a program that accepts Medicaid from low-income families for computer payment for refurbished units (http://www.computersforclassrooms.org)), and the Connect to Compete initiative. A lot of these programs can be located via a Google search or by using your local civil service offices for resources and references.

Personally as Distant Education Professionals we can mediate some of these  barriers by ensuring our DLC's are acessible to those with disabilities and compatible with mobile devices. This helps because a lot of times is is not considered that there are an assortment of disabilities that can affect an end-user that tries to retrieve information we provide. Additionally per the "Exploring the Digital Nation report" those who may not have a computer at home do have some sort of mobile or smart-phone device.

Making ourselves knowledgeable of the obstacles enable us to ensure we do all we can to increase accessibility of our DLC. Below is a short checklist that can also help making a DLC more accessible.

1. Plan your digital content in advance. Sketch up a layout and make sure outline of information is clear and simple
2. Commit to Accessibility. Be knowledgeable of barriers and keep resources on hand that can help eliminate those barriers
3. Take disabilities into consideration. Amongst major disabilities (visual, hearing, motor skills, and cognitive) also provide sites that offer flexibility based on resolution and origin of access (i.e. phone, tablet, ipod, etc).
4. Provide access to HTML content also in non-HTML format.
5. Always evaluate, retain feedback, review, and revise digital content as needed. 

Image courtesy of: http://www.schools.mckinneyisd.net/press/learning-commons/