May 2005 — Features
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Raising the Awareness of Online Accessibility
These are only a few examples of how taking time to converse with and observe students can create an awareness that enables you to see course materials as they experience them. Presented in this context, I began to see pedagogical concepts as much more than helpful teacher suggestions — I saw them as a means to ensure my educational materials were accessible to all my students. So when developing course materials, ask yourself how a student with a learning disability might perceive the tasks and information, how a deaf person would understand the content of your Web site without relying on sound, how a person who is blind would access a Web page using a screen reader, and how a student with physical impairments might participate in a chat session. Chances are you’ll find yourself saying, “I hadn’t thought of it in that context,” and you’ll make design changes that will have a universal impact.
Development of online courses or course materials and discussions of learning styles should include the needs of individuals with disabilities and the potential technology that the students use to access these materials. Soliciting feedback from students and spending time with them as they learn are simple yet powerful ways to gain an awareness of your course materials’ accessibility.
The intent of this article is to generate some observations and suggest ideas to assist teachers in both identifying and considering students’ learning experiences, as well as to create an awareness of the need to choose specific pedagogical approaches with all students in mind. “Most instructors and students do not have 100% of their faculties working at 100% capacity for 100% of the time; disability is pretty much a relative term. If something makes online instruction both efficient and more effective, it may well be worth the investment” (Miller 2004).
Guidelines for Developing Accessible Online Courses
Spending just a small amount of time with students gave me insight to look more carefully at the accessibility of my instructional materials. From these reflections and various readings, I established a few guidelines that I keep in mind when developing new courses. This is not an exhaustive list; the intent is to create an awareness of things to consider when creating course materials. If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to take an online course yourself. This has greatly influenced my decisions about the design and layout of materials.
Instructional Strategies
