The proportion of disabled persons decreases sharply over time in the educational system. This results in lower levels of qualification, which further impedes employment opportunities and reinforces their exclusion from the social sphere. Moreover, this situation is even more acute in the case of persons with cognitive impairments. The considerable evolution of online training, as reflected in the massive growth of MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) platforms, could provide a real opportunity to address the training needs of disabled persons. Unfortunately, similarly to many digital devices, these systems suffer from a lack of accessibility.
Starting from a state of the art on the accessibility of e-learning systems, we initiated a co-design process involving students with cognitive impairments (N = 6) and professionals in the field of cognitive disability and accessibility (N = 13). This work has led to the development of a framework for the design of accessible e-learning systems that arose from the various needs and recommendations that emerged during the process. It resulted in the development and implementation of a first prototype of an accessible MOOC player named Aïana. A field study, based on a MOOC broadcasted on the national FUN platform was conducted to evaluate Aïana's effectiveness in terms of learning performances, cognitive load, induced self-determination, usability and efficiency of person-system interactions among a fairly large sample of participants (N = 1087 of which 150 reported a disability). The results confirm the good usability of our player and its positive impact on the learning and self-determination of disabled persons, particularly those with cognitive disabilities, which supports the relevance of the design principles we have introduced.