What Students Are Excluded From Your Course?

It would be difficult to find an online learning instructor that would say that they do not plan to effectively teach all of their students. Even with these good intentions, many are excluding students with some types of disabilities. The good news is that there are established principles and evidence-based practices that, when applied proactively, lead to a course that is accessible to, usable by, and inclusive of students with a wide variety of characteristics that include disabilities.

Many instructors who consider it important to address diversity and equity issues in their materials and instructional methods, lack the knowledge and skills to design a fully accessible and inclusive course. They also report little understanding of their obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act and its 2008 Amendments when it comes to making their online learning courses accessible to students with disabilities. Procurement officers also struggle to encourage IT companies to make their products accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The presenter will reveal how universal design practices can be integrated with best practices in the field of online learning design to create an inclusive course. She will share evidence-based practices for operationalizing UD principles into practices that are often easy to implement. Participants will learn about how they can apply and/or encourage faculty to apply UD practices in their course design. The presenter will bring in perspectives and promising practices from the field. Discussions will be facilitated to explore key issues related to promoting practices that make online courses accessible to students with disabilities. Resources will also be shared.

This topic is of special importance because of legal mandates for colleges and universities to make their courses accessible to students with disabilities and moral obligations regarding access.