This study is the result of a collaboration between the Educational Development and Technology Centre (EDTeC) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Special Needs Computing Research Unit (SNCRU) at the University of Teesside (UoT), UK.

The requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) are intended to ensure the equitable treatment of people with disabilities to programs and services (Leung, Owens et al DETYA, 1999) and means that it is imperative that access to learning resources within HE institutions is addressed. Also, the trend towards online learning presents the opportunity to examine and revise teaching and learning practices generally.

The Equity and Diversity Unit have approximately 900 students registered with a disability as of April 2001. This represents almost 3.5% of the student population on campus though the actual number of students with disabilities at UNSW could be much higher as not all students with disabilities wish to self identify.

EDTeC was established to support UNSW in the provision of excellent educational systems through the development and utilisation of innovative, effective and responsive educational strategies and technologies. EDTeC provides a range of educational development and educational technology support for academics and staff involved in the development and running of courses at UNSW. Services include hands-on training for online teaching, workshops, presentations, consultations in teaching support and the dissemination of information regarding developments.

A major priority of EDTeC is to fast-track the uptake of educational technology at UNSW. In June 2000 EDTeC introduced institution wide support for WebCT to enable teaching staff to develop online learning environments for themselves. The service includes free hands-on training in EDTeC's computer laboratory and support with instructional design and technology. By March 2001 there were more than 270 courses online with upwards of 11700 students enrolled in those courses.

EDTeC have implemented WebCT as the UNSW platform for online learning because it is the world's most popular tool for creating online learning environments and meets the needs of most academic staff. It was created by academics who continue to guide its ongoing development.