How To Make Online Courses More Accessible & Inclusive: Compliance, Diversity & Ethics

Description  Challenge - Creating inclusive online learning How do you ensure that online courses and other educational opportunities are accessible and inclusive of students with disabilities and other marginalized groups? Key Takeaway In a rush to move on-site courses online at lightning speed during the pandemic, it was discovered that many of these courses were not fully accessible and inclusive of students with disabilities. This webinar provides tips for faculty members and course designers to help them correct these inequities and to plan proactively for the future. Overview When the on-site courses were moved online, it was discovered that many of these courses were not fully accessible and inclusive of students with disabilities and other marginalized groups. It would be difficult to find any online learning instructors who would say that they did not hope to teach all of their students. However, even with these good intentions, many are excluding students with specific characteristics, including disabilities. The good news is that there are established principles and evidence-based practices that, when applied proactively, lead to a course that is accessible to, usable by, and inclusive of students with a wide variety of characteristics that include disabilities. Many instructors who consider it important to address diversity and equity issues in their materials and instructional methods lack the knowledge and skills to design a fully accessible and inclusive course. They also report little understanding of their obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 2008 Amendments to make their online learning courses accessible to students with disabilities. Procurement officers also struggle to encourage IT companies to make their products accessible to individuals with disabilities. The presenter will reveal how you can integrate universal design and other proactive design practices with best practices in online learning design to create an inclusive course. She will share evidence-based practices for operationalizing UD principles into practices that are often easy to implement. Participants will learn about how they can apply and/or encourage faculty to apply UD practices in their course design. The presenter will bring in perspectives and promising practices from the field. The presenter will facilitate discussions to explore key issues related to promoting practices that make online courses accessible to students with disabilities, and the presenter will also share resources.This topic is of particular importance now because of the conversion of thousands of on-site courses to an online format in response to the pandemic, of legal mandates for colleges and universities to make their courses accessible to students with disabilities, of interest in addressing diversity issues, and ethical and moral obligations regarding access. Objectives Describe the difference between accommodations-only and a universal design approach to providing access to courses for students with disabilities and other marginalized groups Describe principles of universal design List at least five universal design practices for an online course Who Should Attend Administration Faculty Online Learning Student Services/Affairs Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leaders IT support personnel Any educator interested in learning more about making online courses accessible to students with disabilities