Developing a MOOC : factoring in disability

One of the aims for this collections was to provide a chapter that gave a firsthand experience of the development of a MOOC from inception through to launch from the perspective of the academics involved. We were also interested in exploring issues around the accessibility of MOOC platforms for people with disabilities. In April 2016 Mike was in Sydney to talk about disability and eLearning and was fortunate to be able to meet with three academics in disability studies who had developed the Disability and a Good Life MOOC series from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) on the FutureLearn platform. This chapter presents an edited version of the interview he conducted with Louisa Smith, Leanne Dowse and Karen Soldatic and provides an overview of the process of developing a contemporary MOOC from the experiences of those involved. It also reflects on issues around disability studies as a discipline and its relationship to MOOCs as well as providing a context to talk about accessibility and MOOC development and the approach to disability in an e-learning space taken by these scholars.