Digital Accessibility for Swedish Second Language Learners A development project for an online museum resource

Abstract

Purpose: The overall purpose of this development project is to explore the struggles that Swedish second language learners (SSLL) encounter while using digital learning resources and to suggest digital accessibility improvements on the Human Nature Skola, which is a museum digital learning resource. Theory: This thesis is a development project which is based on Design Thinking theory and the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Method: The methodology used in this project is based on the five-stage Design Thinking model proposed by Hasso Plattner at Institute of Design at Stanford, which is commonly known as d.school (Plattner, 2010). The five stages followed are: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Results: The results indicated that SSLL encountered several struggles in addition to learning the new language. Such struggles are: difficulties to comprehend written texts, self-consciousness and difficulties to adapt in the new culture. Furthermore, the findings of this development project provide recommendations for re-designing the Human Nature Skola in order to be more accessible for SSLL. More specifically, it is suggested to apply methods and theories of the Multimodal framework as well as the UDL framework, with focusing on the principle of multiple means of representation of the information. Finally, the results showed the need for making learning experiences customized and personal considering the individuals’ needs.