WCAG

Contributions: This study offers valuable insights to MOOC designers about user priorities associated with web accessibility principles for designing web content that provides higher levels of user experience, motivating course completions. Background: MOOCs improve access to quality education. Despite policy support and more involvement by leading educational institutions worldwide, poor course completion rates undermine the objectives for MOOC diffusion. SWAYAM, the leading Indian MOOC platform, which is globally popular, has low course completion rates despite various favourable socio-demographic factors.   Research Question: What are the necessary and sufficient web accessibility principles among perceivability, operability, understanding, and robustness in predicting user experience and course completion intentions of SWAYAM learners? Methodology:  A cross-sectional survey (n=454) using a structured questionnaire among Indian learners currently participating in MOOCs in Swayam captured perceptions about web accessibility principles highlighted in WCAG 20 guidelines. A combined application of structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis revealed sufficient and necessary web accessibility principles for user experience and completion intentions. Findings: Web content accessibility principles are sufficient and necessary conditions for user experience. In developing completion intentions, however, only operability and robustness have a direct impact. Additionally, all accessibility constructs produce completion intentions indirectly through user experience, which indicates that user experience plays a crucial role in determining completion intentions. In addition, results showed that perceivability and understanding are necessary for completion intentions.