accessibility training for online educators sheryl burgstahler [email protected] hadi rangin...
TRANSCRIPT
Accessibility Training for Online Educators
Sheryl Burgstahler • [email protected] Rangin • [email protected]
Sheryl’s First Online Course
>First online learning course at UW, 1995>Co-instructor Dr. Norm Coombs>Title: Adaptive Technology for People
with Disabilities>Technology: Email, discussion list,
Gopher server, telnet, file transfer protocol
>Mailed materials: publications, captioned & audio described VHS videos
Presentation objective
>Compare and contrast two options for providing accessibility training to online learning instructors, content developers, & program administrators
Factors
>Increasing numbers of learning opportunities delivered online & online tools
>Increasing diversity on postsecondary campuses
>legislation to ensure equal access for people with disabilities world-wide
>civil rights complaints about inaccessible design of IT
A Goal for Online Learning
>Courses & programs that are welcoming to, accessible to, & usable by all potential students, including those with disabilities
Stakeholders
>Students>Instructors>Online course designers>IT technical & support personnel>Disability service providers>Campus leaders>Learning management system (LMS)
providers
Most Common Accommodations for Online Courses at UW
>Alternate testing–extended time, permission to use
speech-to-text software like Dragon> Accessible instructional materials–audio books, accessible files–Avg 26k pages evaluated each
quarter>Captioning–5.5 hours of video/wk =
$10,395/quarter
Two Online Courses
>Rutgers University>University of Illinois
Rutgers University
>Instructor: Sheryl Burgstahler>Background>Target: Online instructors, course
designers, program administrators>Format: Online, asynchronous,
universally designed>LMS: eCollege>Length: 6 weeks, noncredit
Prerequisites, Rutgers
>Low level of technical expertise required
>Students are expected to engage about 2 hours per week
Student Objectives, Rutgers
>Describe diversity, accommodations, potential IT/course access challenges & solutions, AT, UD, civil rights, legislation, accessible IT guidelines/standards
>Describe accessible & usable design of online content (e.g., for content design, web pages, multimedia, file formats)
>Be aware of roles & resources regarding the creation of accessible online courses
Instructional Strategies, Rutgers
>Modules with overview content & links to videos & resources
>Discussions—post message & respond to at least one other message
>Joint development of webliography>Project, with extended time option
Evaluation, Rutgers
>Students reported gains in knowledge about access challenges, legal issues, & making courses accessible
>Students expect to apply what they learned
>Challenges for instructor: – wide variety of technology skills of
students–materials not available in accessible format– covering so much content in 12 total hours
University of Illinois
>Universal Design for Online Learning>Instructors: Hadi Rangin, Marc
Thompson>Background>Target: Instructors & Course Designers>Format: Online, asynchronous,
universally designed>LMS: Moodle>Length: 8 weeks, 3 credits
Prerequisites, Illinois
>Basic familiarity with Word, PowerPoint, & Adobe Acrobat applications &, ideally, with an HTML authoring tool
>Plan to engage about 10 hours per week
Students Objectives, Illinois
>Describe UD principles for online learning, how people with disabilities access IT, & potential accessibility/usability issues
>Discuss basic course considerations & best practices for distance learning
>Discuss UD practices for the web >Create usable & accessible content in
HTML, Word, PowerPoint & PDF
Instructional Strategies, Illinois
>Modules with overview content & links to videos & resources, including “OPTIONAL” content
>Discussions—post message & respond to at least one other message
>Hands-on experiences in developing accessible content
>Project
Evaluation, Illinois
>Students reported gains in knowledge >Students demonstrated skills in making
courses accessible>Students expect to apply what they
learned>Challenges for instructors: – addressing issues related to wide variety of
tech skills– students who do not engage 10
hours/week
Lessons Learned
>Model UD in the delivery of the course>An asynchronous mode offers flexibility>Tailor instruction to specific
stakeholders & consider offering multiple short courses
>Assign projects relevant to student roles
>Make expectations clear RE linked resources
>Expect variability in student technical expertise & give adequate individual support
Resources
>Sheryl Burgstahler, [email protected]>Hadi Rangin, [email protected]
> AccessDL www.uw.edu/doit/programs/accessdl