DeSales University Plans an Online MBA Program for Deaf Students

Getting access to a good college education is often difficult for people with hearing loss. The increasing trend to provide interpreters is a boon for those who sign, but that excludes the vast majority of the hearing loss population. Colleges are starting to accommodate people who need ALDs, CART, or other technologies, but these tools are far from universal.

One method that offers great potential for higher education is online learning. If a program avoids the use of audio information, or captions that information, people with hearing loss have full access to the academic program. With that in mind, DeSales University in Pennsylvania is developing what they believe is the first online MBA program for people with hearing loss.

DeSales already offers an online MBA targeted at the hearing population, upon which the new program will be based. The modified program will be more visually oriented, and will probably offer online tutorials. Notably absent will be the "talking heads" that comprise much of the hearing online programs.

Verizon Foundation, which supports efforts to make computers accessible to more people, including those with disabilities, is providing a $25,000 grant to support this program. In addition, Handspring Inc. is donating 20 hand-held computers to allow the university to develop a wireless component.

The program will be operational in the fall. For additional information on DeSales University, point your browser to http://www.allencol.edu