Making Content Accessible
What areas of course components should be accessible to those students with disabilities?
All of them must be accessible.
Interesting question.
All elements of the course content should be made accessible to students with disabilities.
If not the university could get into legal issues.
Students with disabilities you must engage as much as possible.
All elements of the course content should be made accessible to students with disabilities.
Willie ,
Excellent point. They say that people's attention spans are short so we get bored if we ahve to click through 1-3x. What would it be like for someone with disabilities to have to click through course materials 6-7x? Very aggravating.
Renee Shaffer
I thought this was an interesting question. I thought, too, that I was over thinking it. I believe that all areas of an online course should be made available to students with disabilities. at my regular job, I teach an online course (Comp II), and all areas of this course are available to all students. I do, however, have to ensure that all materials are accessibility (i.e. transcripts for videos, etc.). Here is tip I use (something I learned from the Coordinator of Distance Learning at my regular job): When uploading files to your Blackboard class shell, consider how many clicks it takes to reach a particular document. Keeping files organized helps students to know where to look for the document they need, but unnecessary folders can be a barrier to access. Students with physical disabilities which affect the use of their hands may find it difficult to navigate to a document if it takes too many clicks to get there.
Kristian ,
Yes, all course materials need to be available. This is for the benefit of all students.
Renee Shaffer
At the core, all course material needs to be available. The forms can vary, and or add in supporting forms. My campus offers these areas for course materials:
Live chats with audio and video
Text
Podcasts with just audio
Podcasts with video
and Interactive Course Material inside of the online classroom.
Emry,
I totally agree. Too often I hear that we should just offer students with disabilities a watered down version of the course content. How unfortunate and unequal that is!
Renee Shaffer
Ms. Shaffer:
One of the concepts that should be kept in mind, as an instructor, is that all students, irregardless of background or skill, should be given an equal opportunity to earn the same credit within the course. In my opinion, this applies to students with disabilities - any course content that is available to the class should be presented in alternative methods so that the disability can be overcome.
With regards to the chat function within the course, many chat rooms not only feature an area where you can type, but there are video cams, and call in user capabilities in many of the chat software that are used today.
Cheers
Emry
Andrew,
All of these could trigger seizures and the synchronous nature of online chats can also not be user friendly to those with disabilities. Students may not be able to responde/communicate in real time. Two different issues. sorry for the confusion.
Renee Shaffer
Renee, ok I see. I thought however in the learning material they stated that when using chats we would not want to use transitions, flashy changing icons, etc as this could even trigger seizures so it seemed like the material did not overrule the use of chats/slides right?
Andrew,
Very nicely stated! Though some with disabilities might not be able to actively participate in chats at least there needs to be an archive available for them. But, it will still leave these students out of the loop and not give them equal access so be very wary of using chats at all.
Renee Shaffer
For this question I believe we must be all inclusive and ensure students with disabilities have access to the everything our non-disabled students have access to. They must have content available via the syllabus first, then images, charts, graphs or mathematical/scientific notations, any audio and video and the documentation needed to perform research, follow chat archives, or understand the course requirements.
Under the principle of universal design, all elements of the course should be offered in alternate formats… And keep in mind that that is also important to students who have undiagnosed impairment/Disabilities… this would also serve them well. Thank you. Mike Crowley
Parrish,
Correct. It is especially true if the assignment or components are required. One can't leave a whole segment of the student population out of the loop.
Renee Shaffer
All areas of course components should be accessible to those students with disabilities. In particulare, Microsoft Word, PDFs, course syllabi, audio and video components and Learning Management Systems, all need to be accessible. This is especially true if these are REQUIRED as part of the student's final grade for the course.
