Creating an Accessible Course
Distance Education provides new paths and opportunities for accessing learning opportunities. To make sure all students can access course materials and learning experiences, it is essential that issues of accessibility are considered at every phase of the course design process.
When considering accessibility in your courses, a great place to start is the resource Digital Accessibility 101: What You Need to Know. The Teaching and Learning Resource Center’s resource, Five Ways to Improve Accessibility in Your Carmen Course, provides practical advice for meeting many accessibility concerns. Universal Design for Learning shifts our focus to seeing our accessibility obligations as an opportunity to expand access and inclusion in our educational spaces.
Digital Accessibility Services provides a range of tools and trainings to support instructors motivated to improve accessibility in their courses. The following trainings are especially relevant to distance education instructors and recommended by the Office of Distance Education:
- Accessibility Fundamentals: Designing an Accessible User Experience
- Accessibility Fundamentals: Disabilities, Guidelines, and Laws
- Accessibility Fundamentals: Disability Etiquette Basics
Resources on This Topic
- Digital Accessibility 101: What You Need to Know
- Five Ways to Improve Accessibility in Your Carmen Course
- Universal Design for Learning
- Digital Accessibility Services provides a range of tools and trainings
- Carmen Fast Facts for Instructors
- ASC Teaching Forum: Accessibility: Beyond the Basics
- Integrating New Tools in the Classroom & How to File an Exception
Lomellini, A., Lowenthal, P. R., Snelson, C., & Trespalacios, J. H. (2022). Higher education leaders’ perspectives of accessible and inclusive online learning. Distance Education, 43(4), 574–595.
The authors used a disability inquiry theoretical lens to conduct a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews of online learning leaders/directions. The purpose of this study was to “address the gap in the literature by exploring how online learning leaders perceive the challenges and opportunities related to accessible and inclusive online learning at their institutions” (page 576). This study is intended for online education leaders/directors when supporting accessibility and inclusion rather than for educators. However, it provides background and differentiates accessibility with inclusion and how both may fit with ED&I work.
The article explores the question, “What strategies is your institution, or other institutions, using to provide accessible and inclusive online courses?” To summarize the article, course design quality assurance frameworks and accessibility checker tools such as UDL are essential to meeting these challenges. The article focused on faculty buy-in, and the barriers institutions currently face in providing accessible online learning (page 587). The authors’ references could be further explored for additional resources.
“Accessibility is viewed as a shared social responsibility instead of an individual’s problem.” P. 577
Lowenthal, P. R., Humphrey, M., Conley, Q., Dunlap, J. C., Greear, K., Lowenthal, A., & Giacumo, L. A. (2020). Creating Accessible And Inclusive Online Learning: Moving Beyond Compliance and Broadening the Discussion. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 21(2), 1+.
From the abstract: “We begin by providing an overview of some laws focused on accessibility, we then describe how people struggle learning online at all levels, and then conclude with evidence-based practices on how online educators and workplace learning professionals can support all learners.” On pages 7-8, the authors provide three separate areas to focus on:
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Accessible and usable courses and content
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Accessible and inclusive pedagogy and course design
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Accessible and inclusive teaching
The authors include extensive research into each area. Accessible and inclusive pedagogy reviews the UDL framework (pages 12-13) and into TILT with transparent assignments (page 13). Accessible and inclusive teaching starting on page 16, delves into getting to know learners, feedback, and flexibility. This article provides explicit examples and evidence-based practices to support accessibility in online learning.
Clouder, L., Karakus, M., Cinotti, A., Ferreyra, M. V., Fierros, G. A., & Rojo, P. (2020). Neurodiversity in higher education: A narrative synthesis. Higher Education, 80(4), 757–778.
This is an international literature review on “how neurodiverse students experience higher education and the ways in which higher education institutions respond to the cluster of neurodiverse conditions." The authors give a broad overview of neurodiversity and break down the experiences of students in higher education. Throughout the literature review, Universal Design and its components are repeated as a strategy to support neurodiverse students. These supports include teaching and learning approaches, technological support, and assessment approaches. The study concludes that although these supports help meet students’ unique needs, not all students disclose their learning difficulties; thus, an inclusive environment for all students is needed across the institution.
Ortiz, L. A. (2020). Reframing Neurodiversity as Competitive Advantage: Opportunities, Challenges, and Resources for Business and Professional Communication Educators. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 83(3), 261–284.
The author conducted an in-depth survey of the literature regarding neurodiversity from 2000 to 2018. This includes an overview of Section 504, student disability services, and how supports may work at the university level. Even though the author is writing from a business communication instructor’s viewpoint, the inclusive pedagogical strategies endorsed support not only neurodiverse students but also other students. The strategies listed are establishing a relationship to build communication and trust, ‘using the course syllabus as a tool for inclusion’, UDL course design and/or participatory course design, and lastly, for faculty to educate themselves on neurodiversity. Instructors should reframe the idea “…of neurodiversity as a disability to neurodiversity as an advantage.” The author concludes with how neurodiversity works as a competitive advantage in the workplace.