Practical Strategies of Access: Considerations of Digital Accessibility in Course Design through University Partnerships
Location
Room 303/305 Interactive 75-minute Presentation
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
24-2-2018 2:15 PM
End Date
24-2-2018 3:45 PM
Description
Accessibility in higher education is usually thought of in terms of accommodation for a specific population. Traditionally the motivation comes from a focus on compliance, legal culpability, requests for accommodation, and retrofitting past work to meet accessibility standards. Disability scholars have argued that this view considers accessibility as an additional burden rather than an essential part of media production, document design, and instructional practice (Jarrett, Redish, and Summers, 2013; Pass, 2013; Zdenek, 2015).
At Utah State University, a partnership has been formed among our technical communication program, the Disability Resource Center, and the Center for Innovative Design and Instruction (CIDI) to consider accessibility as a crucial element of inclusive course design. This partnership, tacitly working from a virtue ethics approach (Aristotle, 2011; Vallor, 2016), works to prepare and train instructors and future professional communicators to view disability not solely through reason-based principles and policy changes but as an ethical imperative to cultivate “virtuous habits” of accessible design in instruction and other practices. As a starting point, we developed and distributed an IRB-approved survey to instructors from various departments. This survey revealed that instructors value accessibility but lack the knowledge, habits, and resources to make accessibility part of their instructional practices.
Digital humanities gives us a lens to consider how computer technologies impact inclusionary and exclusionary textual practices (Fitzpatrick, 2012; Alvarado, 2012). A commitment to open access remains a core value for digital humanities scholarship, including how DH projects should be accessible to those with and without disabilities (Guiliano, 2012; Williams, 2012). To respond to the growing conversation surrounding disability and accessibility in digital humanities, this interactive panel presentation will offer Utah State University’s accessibility partnership as an example of the kinds of relationships needed to foster inclusion in digital course designs and materials. The presentation will offer a discussion of tools available to use in courses to support pedagogical objectives, learning outcomes, and the preferences of individual students. Accessibility in education includes more than simple checklists and guidelines, which can complicates application. To address these issues, this panel will conclude with a discussion facilitated through an interactive online quizzing format. As participants play through the game, they will be asked how the technological interface develops or challenges access. The game will also use questions from our survey to investigate how issue of accessibility impact the individual pedagogical objectives for the participating instructors.
Practical Strategies of Access: Considerations of Digital Accessibility in Course Design through University Partnerships
Room 303/305 Interactive 75-minute Presentation
Accessibility in higher education is usually thought of in terms of accommodation for a specific population. Traditionally the motivation comes from a focus on compliance, legal culpability, requests for accommodation, and retrofitting past work to meet accessibility standards. Disability scholars have argued that this view considers accessibility as an additional burden rather than an essential part of media production, document design, and instructional practice (Jarrett, Redish, and Summers, 2013; Pass, 2013; Zdenek, 2015).
At Utah State University, a partnership has been formed among our technical communication program, the Disability Resource Center, and the Center for Innovative Design and Instruction (CIDI) to consider accessibility as a crucial element of inclusive course design. This partnership, tacitly working from a virtue ethics approach (Aristotle, 2011; Vallor, 2016), works to prepare and train instructors and future professional communicators to view disability not solely through reason-based principles and policy changes but as an ethical imperative to cultivate “virtuous habits” of accessible design in instruction and other practices. As a starting point, we developed and distributed an IRB-approved survey to instructors from various departments. This survey revealed that instructors value accessibility but lack the knowledge, habits, and resources to make accessibility part of their instructional practices.
Digital humanities gives us a lens to consider how computer technologies impact inclusionary and exclusionary textual practices (Fitzpatrick, 2012; Alvarado, 2012). A commitment to open access remains a core value for digital humanities scholarship, including how DH projects should be accessible to those with and without disabilities (Guiliano, 2012; Williams, 2012). To respond to the growing conversation surrounding disability and accessibility in digital humanities, this interactive panel presentation will offer Utah State University’s accessibility partnership as an example of the kinds of relationships needed to foster inclusion in digital course designs and materials. The presentation will offer a discussion of tools available to use in courses to support pedagogical objectives, learning outcomes, and the preferences of individual students. Accessibility in education includes more than simple checklists and guidelines, which can complicates application. To address these issues, this panel will conclude with a discussion facilitated through an interactive online quizzing format. As participants play through the game, they will be asked how the technological interface develops or challenges access. The game will also use questions from our survey to investigate how issue of accessibility impact the individual pedagogical objectives for the participating instructors.