Metadata Authoring
Content authors can use metadata to provide information about what needs a learning resource can accommodate. Metadata can be used to describe, among other things: what the technical/environmental requirements are for a given resource (e.g. is a mouse required to interact with the resource?); what sensory modalities are required to perceive the content of the resource (e.g. does the learner need to be able to hear the content?); what learning style the resource accommodates (e.g. is this a highly visual learning resource?).
Describing Open Education Resources (OERs) and other resources with metadata allows a delivery system to automatically personalize the content and its delivery to meet the unique needs of each learner. Metadata can be recorded in a metadata record separate from the resource itself.
Authoring metadata promotes cumulative accessibility of resources as third parties create and associate alternatives to original resources. Together, the many resources in a system contain the features or educational materials that every student needs, but no single resource must be 100% accessible to every kind of learner. By creating metadata about each resource, it is easier to determine which resources might need to be adapted to meet an individual's needs.
For more information about metadata authoring please see http://handbook.floeproject.org/Metadata.html