edX Xpert Learning Assistant Accessibility and Usability Information

The Xpert Learning Assistant feature is an AI-powered text chat interface in edX courses that lets learners ask questions about the course content and responds with suggestions of how to think about or investigate the course content in ways related to the learner’s prompt. This document summarizes the accessibility and usability barriers identified during testing as well as how to get help.

Get help

  • Contact the DoIT Help Desk for general assistance. Reach the Help Desk by phone at 608.264.4357, email at help@doit.wisc.edu or visit their KnowledgeBase.

  • For general assistance related to WisconsinX (edX) courses, please contact the WisconsinX Service Team at edxadmins@dcs.wisc.edu. For accessibility or usability assistance for the edX Xpert Learning Assistant, please contact accessibility@edx.org. 

Accessibility and usability barriers 

The following information is provided to help people with disabilities know what potential barriers may exist.

Poor color contrast on keyboard focus indicator may impact users who navigate by keyboard

It is unclear when the Xpert button has keyboard focus because of low color contrast.

Magnification barriers may cause difficulty for users with low vision

At high magnification, the viewport to read the AI-generated content became too compressed. This is due to the fixed navigation bar.

Keyboard and screen reader navigation barriers may impact users who are blind or have motor disabilities

There is no HTML landmark for the Xpert AI button, so people who navigate by keyboard or screen reader must tab through an exceptional number of links in the footer in order to reach the Xpert AI button.

Heavy reliance on ARIA may cause problems for users of assistive technology or older web browsers

The tool uses a lot of ARIA, and often uses ARIA in place of HTML labels. ARIA is less reliable than accessible HTML.


Keywords:
assistant, Xpert, EdX, artificial intelligence, AI, WisconsinX 
Doc ID:
149335
Owned by:
Digital Accessibility Team in IT Accessibility and Usability
Created:
2025-03-25
Updated:
2026-01-05
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, IT Accessibility and Usability