Knowing your students' profiles will help you to understand their needs and to develop websites that fully meet those needs. This includes knowing who they are, how they access the web, what barriers they may face and what adaptive technologies are available.
According to figures from NSW DET, there are more than 750,000 enrolled students K-12 in regular classes, support classes and schools for specific purposes. Over 35,000 of these students have a diagnosed disability in one of the following areas: intellectual, physical, hearing, vision, mental health or autism.
Recent enrolment figures show that about 7 percent of TAFE students have a disability.
There can also be access barriers for students who have difficulty reading, writing and understanding English, and for those living in remote areas.
When planning your website, you need to analyse the likely profile of your target audience and note the implications of this for your web design so that you can tailor your design to meet those needs.