The UNESCO Open Educational Resources Community launched a discussion on access issues regarding OER from 9 to 27 February. The first week’s discussion focuses on identifying and classifying the main barriers in accessing OER. A range of issues have been mentioned so far, including access in terms of:

· ability and skills; (Does the end user have the right skills to access?)

· file formats; (Are the file formats accessible?)

· local policy / attitude; (Do attitudes or policies pose barriers to using OER?)

· languages; (How well does the user speak the language of the OER?)

· disability; (Does the OER meet WAI accessibility criteria?)

· licensing; (Is the licensing suitable / CC?)

· awareness; (Lack of awareness is a barrier to OER.)

· discovery; (If the OER is hidden, not searchable, not indexed, it’s hard to find.)

· infrastructure; (Lack of power/computers makes access hard.)

· internet connectivity / bandwidth; (Slow connections pose a barrier to access.)

In the second and third weeks, participants are invited to share their experiences in working around these issues and to discuss possible solutions. For further information on Access2OER and participation in the discussion, please visit http://oerwiki.iiep-unesco.org/index.php?title=Access2OER.