Disability Studies Online?

So here's a conundrum that I've been dealing with for the past several months: Is disability studies a content area that lends itself to online coursework? I've just finished teaching my first entirely online class in disability studies, and I have received mixed reviews from the students. Some likes the flexibility of the format, but others felt that it was tremendously isolating. I have to also add, that after reading the finals, I have my doubts as to how much some of the students learned; but that's the case in all classes. Maybe I'm just being too picky about the progress I expected to see in my students' thinking...

On the one hand I can see the positive aspects of online learning. Online courses are more convenient for many people, including nontraditional students, and individuals with disabilities who may not be as mobile as other students; but, the online format is also tremendously isolating. Disability studies is all about breaking down the socio-cultural aspects that create the disability phenomenon, and it seems antithetical to teach about social issues and attitudes in the isolation of a virtual online course. Interaction, confrontation, and discussion seem to be central to disability studies, and I have yet to see an online medium that replicates the power of face-to-face for these purposes. I also have concerns with the overall accessibility of online learning environments for individuals with disabilities. In a medium where text is central to the communication of meaning, it almost necessarily excludes individuals for whom text is not a primary mode of meaning transfer...

Now I am willing to admit that I may not be the most skilled online instructor, and perhaps beefing up my skills would make a course more useful for students, but even improving my skills doesn't address many of the issues I have with online courses. I am also willing to admit that maybe we are not using the right technology for these courses. But, then the problem becomes investing in new technology...and that costs money.

So, those are my thoughts for this evening. I'm not sure there is a satisfactory answer to any of these questions, but there has to be some middle ground where online learning and disability studies can work. What do you think?