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 Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning

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Accessibility ​

Accessibility has to do with the representation of materials and information. Are the materials or information usable, available, and understandable? Are they within reach? Can they be accessed by any person - including a person with a disability? When a part of something is not accessible by all, it is discriminating against the persons who are unable to use it - essentially, saying this thing is for one group of people, but not for others - so they are not allowed to participate.

If we want to make our environment and education truly inclusive, and not discriminatory or excluding to others, we are charged with the duty of making our courses and materials accessible. How do we do this? Here are some techniques from the experts on Accessibility.

Accordion

How to Build an Accessible Syllabus

Overview

Making your course documents accessible will enable students in your course to fully utilize your materials and will help COS to be a ​truly accessible college. Students depend on your course syllabus for reading and homework assignments; therefore it is crucial that your materials are usable for all students

Download Template

Download the Template for Creating an Accessible Syllabus​.  Please note, the template is designed for Microsoft Word versions 2010 and 2013 for Windows, and Word 2011 for the Mac.

For instructions on how to work with the template and to obtain help, please read the sections below.

Instructions:

  • Please be sure to use the latest version of Microsoft Word.  
  • This template includes the most common features included on a course syllabus.  Please feel free to add, remove, or rearrange sections that fit your needs, while keeping in mind that there are elements that are required to be on your course syllabus. 
  • Text that is highlighted yellow on this template serves as a placeholder meant to be replaced with your content to fit the needs of your course.  Please be sure to replace all of the placeholder information with content that is relevant to your course.
  • Instructions for making elements such as hyperlinks and tables accessible are included on the template itself for easy reference.  <The text in the brackets and red color is meant to be read by you and then removed>
  • Please be aware, if you copy text from another source and paste it on to this template, or if you add any sections, the content could be inaccessible.  Please run the Accessibility Checker to correct any identified problems.

The Accessibility Checker in Word

Like the spell checker that identifies possible spelling errors in a document, MS Word versions for the Windows platform (PC) contains a built-in Accessibility Checker that identifies accessibility problems in a Word document and makes recommendations on how to fix them. Please be sure to run the Accessibility Checker to check your finished syllabus. Even if you choose to use another syllabus template, or create your own syllabus, you can still use this Accessibility Checker.

The Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word

(*Note – The Accessibility Checker is only available for .docx files. An old Word document may need to be converted to a .docx file format before using the Accessibility Checker. To convert a .doc file to a .docx file, open your old file and “Save As" a .docx file.)

  1. Go to the File Menu
  2. On the Info tab under Inspect Document, click Check for Issues.
  3. Click on Check Accessibility

Finding Captioned Videos & Captioning Uncaptioned Videos

​Videos can be extremely beneficial, useful, and powerful instructional materials. However, a video that is not captioned is inaccessible for some people (for example, a student who may have a hearing impairment). It is important to select videos with captions (and to always turn the captions ON when showing them) to maximize the accessibility of the video. (There are also people who may hear just fine, but also find that they can understand the video better with the captions turned on.)

As the faculty member selecting the video for your class, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure that your videos are captioned and accessible. 

YouTube has tons of great videos, as well as some not-so-great videos. You can actually search YouTube for a topic and choose to only view videos that are captioned. Do this in YouTube by searching for a topic and including ,cc - so your search would be "topic, cc" and this will only bring up videos that are captioned.

If a video on YouTube is owned by you (you made the video), you can have YouTube automatically add captions to your videos. It's not a perfectly accurate method, so you'll want to edit the captions YouTube generates for the video to be sure that they are correct. For steps on how to enable and edit captions on your YouTube video that you own/produced, watch this video.

If you want to enable captions on a video on YouTube that is not owned by you, you have three options:

1 - You can contact the creater/owner of the video and request that captions be enabled.

2 - You can caption the video yourself (follow these instructions​.)

3 - You can find a different video that is already captioned.

Remember, any videos you use in class MUST have captions. If a video does not have any, you'll either have to find a different video or produce your own captions.

Accessibility Within Canvas

If you are offering a course using Canvas, you can view information on how to create accessible course pages within Canvas using the Canvas guide​.

Website Accessibility

​Common Content Issues - From the CCC Accessibility Center

The following items should be checked manually to ensure the content of a webpage is accessible to all visitors:

  1. Identify the presence of page titles. Page titles should be unique as appropriate to the page content and/or task.
  2. A “Skip Navigation” solution is present for pages with repeated navigational elements.
  3. Web pages are organized using appropriate HTML5 and WAI-ARIA elements (e.g., role=”main”, role=”contentinfo”, etc.). Not required, but a best practice.
  4. Identify the use of headings. Headings should be sequential, starting with h1.
  5. Information is marked using appropriate semantic structure (headings, lists, paragraphs, tables, etc.). Data tables contain appropriate row and column structural markup.
  6. Form input fields have an explicit label. Instructions and/or input details are programmatically associated with the respective form field.
  7. Alternate text is provided for all images. Alternate text describes the content and/or purpose of the image.
  8. Hyperlinks offer descriptive link text or are associated with descriptive link text.
  9. Videos have captions.
  10. Text and images (except logos) meet color contrast requirements of 4.5:1 (foreground/background).
  11. Page content is still perceivable when Windows High Contrast Mode is enabled.

WAVE: Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool

WAVE will scan a single webpage for accessibility errors and suggested ways to fix the errors. Copy and paste a website URL into WAVE and click the arrow for an accessibility report of your webpage.​

Also, for more accessibility design items, see Tips and Tools:  Principles of Accessible Design by the National Center ​on Disability and Access to Education.

How do I make my class more accessible? A few quick tips.

​At the Access & Ability Center, we are all about accessibility! Here are some helpful tips on how to increase accessibility in your classroom: 

  • Face the class when speaking to the class. Persons hard-of-hearing may be watching your facial expressions and/or lip movements to help understand what you are portraying. If you need to write on a white board, save any important information for after you have finished writing and are again facing the class. 

  • When presenting with a Powerpoint, it helps to have printouts of the slides to distribute. Having the information on students' desks AND at the front of the classroom creates more opportunities for exposure to the content. 

  • If you see any barriers/obstacles in the class that might be hard for an individual to maneuver around, you can always move it yourself, or ask someone to move it, before the obstacle becomes an issue.

  • Make sure to hand out a class syllabus and class schedule the first day of class. This lets students know what is coming up and what to expect, allowing students to prepare for upcoming assignments.  

  • Be willing to work with the student and any services they might wish to utilize during your class. 

  • Invite students to email you and visit you in your office during office hours. 

  • Put in your class syllabi information for students with disabilities, letting them know that there is a program called the Access & Ability Center which can provide academic accommodations for students with verifiable disabilities.

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Universal design for learning (UDL) is a set of principles for designing curriculum that provides all individuals with equal opportunities to learn. UDL is designed to serve all learners, regardless of ability, disability, age, gender, or cultural and linguistic background. UDL provides a blueprint for designing goals, methods, materials, and assessments to reach all students including those with diverse needs. Grounded in research of learner differences and effective instructional settings, UDL principles call for varied and flexible ways to: 

  • Present or access information, concepts, and ideas (the "what" of learning) 

  • Plan and execute learning tasks (the "how" of learning) 

  • Get engaged—and stay engaged—in learning (the "why" of learning)  

UDL is different from other approaches to curriculum design in that educators begin the design process expecting the curriculum to be used by a diverse set of students with varying skills and abilities.    UDL is an approach to learning that addresses and redresses the primary barrier to learning: inflexible, one-size-fits-all curricula that raise unintentional barriers. Learners with disabilities are the most vulnerable to such barriers, but many students without disabilities also find that curricula are poorly designed to meet their learning needs. UDL helps meet the challenges of diversity by recommending the use of flexible instructional materials, techniques, and strategies that empower educators to meet students' diverse needs. A universally designed curriculum is shaped from the outset to meet the needs of the greatest number of users, making costly, timeconsuming, and after-the-fact changes to the curriculum unnecessary. The UDL framework is grounded in three principles: 

Universal Design for Learning is based on teaching with multiple methods of representation, engagement, and expression.
 

  1. Multiple means of representation – using a variety of methods to present information, provide a range of means to support

  2. Multiple means of action and expression  – providing learners with alternative ways to act skillfully and demonstrate what they know  

  3. Multiple means of engagement – tapping into learners’ interests by offering choices of content and tools; motivating learners by offering adjustable levels of challenge. 

How Can Students Benefit from UDL? 

Adult students benefit from two major aspects of UDL:  (1) its emphasis on flexible curriculum, and (2) the variety of instructional practices, materials, and learning activities. All students, including those learning English, older students, and those with disabilities appreciate the multifaceted ways content is presented, as well as options for demonstrating what they know. UDL helps educators meet the challenge of serving those with special needs while enhancing learning for all.  

How Can Instructors Incorporate UDL?   Instructors may want to try the following strategies (Rose & Meyer, 2002):  

• Use multiple strategies to present content. Enhance instruction through the use of case studies, music, role play, cooperative learning, hands-on activities, field trips, guest speakers, Web-based communications, and educational software. Example:  Students can role play important events in American history to give them a better understanding of the events and people involved. Also, offer a choice of learning contexts by providing opportunities for individual, pair, and group work as well as distance learning, peer learning, and field work.  

• Use a variety of materials. To present, illustrate, and reinforce new content, use materials such as online resources, videos, podcasts, PowerPoint presentations, realia, manipulatives, and e-books.   

• Provide cognitive supports. Give students organizing clues; for example:  “I have explained the four main points, and now I am going to summarize them.”  Present background information for new concepts using pictures, artifacts, videos, and other materials that are not lecturebased. Scaffold student learning (provide temporary support to reduce the complexity of a task) by providing a course syllabus, outlines, summaries, study guides, and copies of PowerPoint slides.  

• Teach to a variety of learning styles. Build movement into learning. Give instructions both orally and in writing to engage students auditorily and visually. Consider using large visual aids for slides, graphics, and charts.   

• Provide flexible opportunities for assessment. Allow students to demonstrate their learning in multiple ways that include visual and oral presentation, rather than only written assessment.   ​

Information for this section adapted from TEAL:  Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy, 2010. 


 

Want to learn more? Contact AAC@cos.edu or the Distance Education Coordinator at COS and ask for further support regarding UDL.