PRESENTATION NAME

Accessibility in Online Course DesignDE (CETL) & DRC1Outline of Todays SessionOverview of Universal Instructional Design (UID)WHY apply UID to your course/s?WHAT are the limits of UID? Educational Accommodation Processes @ CC HOW/WHERE to begin to apply UID? (Checklists for materials)Next steps: Community of Practice?2 Universal Instructional Design (1)Universal Instructional Design (UID) is an approach to designing course instruction, materials and content to benefit people of all learning styles without adaptation or retrofitting. UID provides equal access to learning, not simply equal access to information. UID allows the student to control the method of accessing information while the instructor monitors the learning process and initiates any beneficial methods. It should be noted that UID does not remove academic challenges; it removes barriers to access.From: Universal Design for Learning. Ohio State University

E.g. of common definition of UID. (also referred to as inclusive curriculum design, etc.)

----------As faculty and support staff, we have been conscious of the limitations placed on students with disabilities and aware that this is an area with which we need to engage. Have we fully understood, however, that the way in which we design our courses determines who can access information and knowledge and who cannot? (Sharon Kerr & Michaela Baker; Macquarie University, AU)3 Universal Instructional Design (2)Universal Instructional Design (UID) is an approach to teaching that consists of the proactive design and use of inclusive instructional and evaluation strategies. This approach provides academic access to a broad range of learners, including students with disabilities, while: maintaining academic standards [] reducing the need to having to retrofit after a course is already underway From: FAIR (Facilitating Accessible Instruction & Resources). UVic.

Another definition for UID

Universal design principles can apply to lectures, classroom discussions, group work, handouts, Web-based instruction, fieldwork, and other academic activities.4WHY Apply UID? UID = proactively considering:Learning & physical disabilities.Mobile access.Operational considerations.------------------------------------Legal requirements/obligationsGood business

Learning & physical disabilities: Materials must be proactively designed to be accessible to different types of needs, and not all students will identify themselves to the College as having a disability. For example: someone might be hard-of-hearing vs. completely deaf, and might have too much difficulty hearing everything in a synchronous, online session to be able to synthesize and understand all of the materials presented. Its very likely that a student such as this wouldnt contact the instructor or program or DRC about their needs in advance, and if/when we did learn about it, it would likely be because their learning opportunity had already been compromised.

Mobile access: E.g. re: including multi-media elements in an online course. Given the habits and preferences of todays students, we need to present as much of the required materials in mobile-friendly formats as we can. More and more students expect to be able to access course materials from mobile devices (e.g. on a Smartphone while they ride the bus to work, etc.), and those devices inconsistently support Flash (a popular format for web-based presentations). Similarly, media components drain more battery power from a mobile device than a text-based resource so students-on-the-go will gravitate towards materials that dont use as much power.

Operational considerations: For example: if youre including video or audio materials in your course, its not realistic to plan on being able to whip off complete and accurate transcripts at the last minute you need to be as ready as possible for all situations before the course starts. Aside from wanting to ensure that all students feel welcome and supported in their online class environment from the start, from an operational perspective, do you have the time/resources to continue to develop the materials for a course once the term is underway..?

For example 2: youve selected a textbook that includes access to video materials and a quiz-question databank from the publisher. Are you confident that these materials can be accessed by all the students in your course from the first day of class? Do you/CC have a framework agreement in place with the publisher that allows CC to have the textbook provided in an alternate format for a visually-impaired student? Do the video materials include transcripts and/or close-captioning for students who have difficulty accessing content in video format? Does the quiz-question databank include visuals graphs, images, etc. that have not been properly described for a screen-reader?

Legal Obligations Shouldnt be our primary motivator, but clearly an incentive to take accessibility standards seriously.> United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[a convention ratified by Canada in 2010] ;> Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms;> BC Human Rights Code;> Increased emphasis in pockets of Canada. E.g. Ontarios Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005: businesses and universities could be hit with $100K/day fines for non-compliance [http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/regs/english/2011/elaws_src_regs_r11191_e.htm#BK9]

Good business e.g. in global/international environment. For example: earlier this month (April 2014) saw new measures adopted in China to ensure that students with disabilities are given full access to Higher Education. They cite Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitieswhich states Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities.

5Consider the low hanging fruit or Tier 1 issues in course design and delivery: ** Your experiences and your learners experiences in accessing course materials are not always the same. **Identify the likely barriers and mitigate against them.

WHY Apply UID? (contd)For our purposes, frame UID as holistically and manageably as we can (vs. the heavily legislated approach a la ADA regulations in US.) and begin by addressing the Tier 1 barriers that are easy to anticipate and pro-actively remediate. For example: Do I have visual materials that present core concepts but which not all students may be able to see or understand?Do I have multi-media (audio; video) materials that present core concepts but which not all students may be able to hear or see or access?Do I have documents that present core concepts but which are in a format not all students may be able to access? Have I created time-sensitive activities which may be prohibitive to some students with cognitive disabilities?

6WHAT are the Limits of UID?Potential to be overwhelmed by just one more thing.UID cannot meet all needs; educational accommodation may be required.

Cautionary tales re: UID paralysis i.e. one more thing, one more, one more, and one more

Universal Design Isnt. (From Ed Media 2013; U. of Northern Colorado):Universal design originated as a design philosophy for improving physical accessibility. It has since been applied to computer technologies and interfaces with regard to analogous accessibility issues. When applied to learning, the general principles of multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement seem laudableHowever, a significant body of research in learner control, multimedia, and related areas demonstrates that more is not always better.

Tier 2 would fall more in the realm of academic or educational accommodations barriers may still remain in the environment for some learners with disabilities that make specific academic accommodations necessary; accommodations provide different ways of meeting essential course/program requirements An academic accommodation is an individualized adaptation of environments, materials or assessment which provides the student with an alternative means of meeting essential course or program requirements. Academic accommodations are individualized for a particular student and may include (but are not limited to):adaptation, substitution or deletion of a component of a program, course, assignment or method of assessment; provision of a service. (Source: FAIR) Examples of accommodations include: more time to write an exam; providing a student with a note taker; sign-language interpreters; a flexible attendance policy for a student with a health impairment; assignment substitutions.

Employing universal design principles in instruction does not eliminate the need for specific accommodations for students with disabilities. There will always be the need for some specific accommodations, such as sign language interpreters for students who are deaf. However, applying universal design concepts in course planning will assure full access to the content for most students and minimize the need for specific accommodations. For example, designing Web resources in accessible formats as they are developed means that no re-development is necessary if a blind student enrolls in the class. Planning ahead can be less time-consuming in the long run... [from U. Washingtons DO-IT.]

7Educational AccommodationsStudent Processes:Info Session; provide DRCmedical documentation.Intake Appointment w/ DRC. Educational Accommodation form.Faculty Notification letter.Receipt from purchase of required text/s.

Information Session (optional; recommended). These are available regularly; give students an overview of DRC support + types of disabilities that are served.Students are advised that they MUST provide medical documentation to the College to support the accommodation/s they have requested/require.

Intake Appointment (required; book @ campus from which their program is offered.)Students book an appointment for one-on-one meeting with a DRC faculty. During this session, they will go through the Educational Accommodation form together; DRC faculty will generate & sign a Faculty Notification letter out of this session. (It is up to the student to request a copy of this letter; a Faculty Notification letter is good for two years.)Students are encouraged to make an appointment with DRC each year; review Ed. Accommodation form; produce new Faculty Notification letter.

Share Faculty Notification letter with instructor/s. (required in order to receive accommodation/s)Student can make as many copies of their Faculty Notification letter as they need to; give one to each Faculty from whom student will need an accommodation.

If student needs to have course text produced in alternative format, they need to purchase a copy of the text book and provide the receipt to DRC for purposes of communicating with & reassuring Publishers.

8Educational AccommodationsFaculty Responsibilities. Includes:Textbooks/Course Materials.Identify to DRC students who need special format.*Exams planning & design*

*Opportunities for pro-activity Textbooks/Course Materials. IDEALLY: discuss with Bookstore and/or DRC before settling on a text; proactively determine if framework agreement is required and/or in place for publisher re: permissions to produce in alternate format OR if is already available in alternate format/s.

Note - Not all e-book formats are usable with screen readers and not all publishers understand copyright/Fair Dealing agreements re: providing alternate format of texts to students with a disability.

Exams.As more & more courses move exams to online format, more and more registered students who need time accommodations. Leads to increased call on DRC for invigilations + puts a big strain on limited room/lab spaces

9HOW/WHERE to Begin?UID: The Tier 1 of removing barriers. Instructional design assignments, activities, exams, instructions, etc.Course Materials checklists. E.g.:ImagesAudioVideoDocuments Educational Accommodation: Tier 2

[Overview of checklists; interest in piloting first drafts?]10In Closing & Next StepsQ & A.Expressions of interest in establishing a Community of Practice @ CC and opportunities for problem-based discussions..? For example:Exam design/planning: Timing for all vs. growing reliance on accommodations? Locked-down browsers vs. screen-readers?Piloting Checklists for feedback ?11