Accessibility Overview
Why does accessibility matter?
As instructors, we have legal and ethical obligations to ensure our courses are fully accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. We use digital resources in our courses because we believe they enhance learning. However, unless carefully chosen or developed with accessibility in mind, these resources can have the opposite effect for students with disabilities, erecting daunting barriers that make learning difficult or impossible. In addition, accessible content offers benefits for all students.
This 6-minute video highlights the experiences of students and faculty with disabilities in higher education.
A Personal Look at Accessibility in Higher Education
Links to an external site.
This 11-minute video includes stories from students whose education is impacted by inaccessible web content and ways faculty and staff can improve online course materials to make course content more accessible.
To Care & Comply: Accessibility of Online Course Content
Links to an external site.
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
- Discuss why accessibility matters.
- Explain how screen readers interact with content.
- Explain barriers to access and assistive technologies designed to overcome these barriers.
- Describe UDL and the POUR framework.