Over the last 3-5 years, an increasing focus in higher education has occurred around the topics of universal design, inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity of learners. The increasingly complex digital resources incorporated both within and outside of the classroom have presented challenges towards inclusivity for faculty who are striving to make their class materials accessible to all.
Seeing this obvious gap between faculty knowledge/skill and student needs as a growth point for enhancing services, the presenters (administrators in online learning and faculty) will outline several distinct case examples from multiple campuses' successful implementation of a tool to heighten the overall accessibility of educational content; to shape the culture of accessibility on a university's campus; and to provide metrics to assess growth in digital accessibility over time in a campus envioronment. Additionally, through an audience demonstration and participation activity, we will illustrate some remaining gaps in full educational inclusivity and understanding that have yet to be addressed, and will provide best practice recommendations on how to address these concerns.
Over the last 3-5 years, an increasing focus in higher education has occurred around the topics of universal design, inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity of learners. Higher Education's stance on accessibility along the sliding scale from reactive to proactice has slowly begun to move towards more open accessibility considerations for students, prompted in part by compliance concerns. The increasingly complex digital resources incorporated both within and outside of the classroom have presented challenges towards inclusivity for faculty who are striving to make their class materials accessible to all.
Seeing this obvious gap between faculty knowledge/skill and student needs as a growth point for enhancing services, the presenters (administrators in online learning and faculty) will outline several distinct case examples from multiple campuses' successful implementation of a tool to heighten the overall accessibility of educational content; to shape the culture of accessibility on a university's campus; and to provide metrics to assess growth in digital accessibility over time in a campus envioronment.
Furthermore, this comprehensive presentation will also take an even deeper dive into fully-inclusive teaching and learning environments, taking into consideration an oftentimes overlooked area of accessibility-the faculty member. Through an audience demonstration and participation activity, we will illustrate some remaining gaps in full educational inclusivity and understanding that have yet to be addressed--and will provide best practice recommendations on how to address these concerns.