Accessibility & UDL Fails: Group Counseling and Tips for Next Time
Concurrent Session 9

Brief Abstract
At some point in our past, we've all executed a brilliant learning design only to realize later that we neglected accessibility. Join us for group counseling and practical advice for how to implement universal design moving forward.
Presenters




Extended Abstract
A few years ago, our office built a ‘lightboard’ (http://lightboard.info) and began using it in our course videos. Instructors can write out formulas or draw diagrams on this glass whiteboard, which is placed in between the individual and the camera. This allows instructors to write like they normally would on a traditional chalkboard will facing the audience to engage them. In other words, both the teacher and content are presented for a digital audience in a readable format. Although, this technology can add a dynamic element to video, we didn’t consider the experience of students with visual impairments. While we do provide closed captioning and transcripts for video, we did not think to add a descriptive audio layer to narrate the instructor’s diagrams, charts, and formulae.
In designing courses, we all produce or handle text documents, images, audio, video, learning management modules, websites, and any number of other types of media. We are offering this “Conversations” session as a sort of group counseling for participants to share their stories about building inaccessible course materials. Whether it’s a lack of financial support, lack of buy-in from stakeholders, or implementing new technology, we have all experienced challenges in ensuring the accessibility of our course materials. We encourage you to share your story and also share what you learned from that experience.
This session will address:
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technical “how-to” questions around improving the accessibility of various file formats
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the costs and potential sources for funding for improving accessibility
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training for faculty, staff, and students to promote cultural buy-in for accessibility and Universal Design
The presenters will share a website featuring resources for improving accessibility and adopting Universal Design as an artifact of the presentation. We will also build a form into the website, with which we hope to collect more resources from session and conference participants.