by Eric Royer, Program Director, Reinert Center
Digital accessibility is all about making sure what we do online works for as many people as possible. If you chop off the last part of word accessibility, we can all agree that increasing access to our course learning experiences has a net positive effect on student learning. We want our students to be able to engage with a document or PDF file as intended. We want them to be able to navigate our Canvas pages or watch a video lecture and not be confronted with undue barriers that prevent them from doing so.
A persistent myth surrounding digital accessibility is that it only impacts a small percentage of our students. In reality, the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics Fast Facts on Students with Disabilities estimates that 1 in 5 undergraduate students report having a visual, auditory, motor, and/or cognitive difference. Two things: The last reporting year for this estimate is 2019, and this number is likely higher if we consider inequities in diagnosis and how stigma might prevent disclosure.
The “why” of digital accessibility is easy to answer, but the “how” is often difficult to envision. Digital accessibility can feel daunting and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed as you get started. There are specific legal standards and technical requirements. You’ll need to incorporate additional steps in your design workflows and incorporate even more tools into your online teaching toolbox.
The good news is that there are plenty of resources to get started. SLU’s Checklist for Accessible Online Materials is helpful since it packages digital accessibility into digestible parts. This accompanying Canvas resource site on Making Online Course Materials Accessible further breaks down the checklist and provides tangible tips and strategies to orient you and build up your digital accessibility skill set. My colleague Beth Petitjean’s Four Minute Focus video series also provides clear, succinct overviews of specific accessibility topics, ranging from font styles and color use to descriptive text for links and accessible tables.
As you get started on your digital accessibility journey, we always recommend starting small. Focus on one specific part of digital accessibility and try to make sense of what the need is and how you can design for that in your current/future courses. Maybe you start with focusing on alt text for images in your courses right now, then progress to adding descriptive text for links next time around. While these might feel like small victories, together, these things add up and immensely increase access to the courses you teach.
If you would like to talk further about digital accessibility and how you might get started with digital accessibility in the courses you teach, please contact the Reinert Center or fill out ourconsultation request form. Please also consider sharing your perspectives and ideas in the comment section below.
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