Digital Accessibility
There are many things you can do to make your course materials and teaching more accessible to all students, including those who identify as having a disability. Inaccessible materials can create barriers to learning for students with disabilities. By ensuring course materials are as accessible as possible, faculty can create an environment in which all students can learn at their best.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, was designed to make electronic and informational technologies accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Should you need any assistance making your digital content more accessible, please contact Accessibility Services!
Documents and Presentations
Documents, handouts, and other digital print materials should be made accessible to people using screen reading software or other enlargement or read aloud tools.
Making Word Docs Accessible Making PowerPoints Accessible
Videos and Audio
It is best practice to caption and/or transcribe all video and audio files such as recorded lectures, YouTube videos, and podcasts. The use of captioned media provides many more benefits to diverse populations:
- Persons who are Deaf or hard of hearing must have captioned media in order to access the auditory and visual media from one location.
- Persons with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or other cognitive impairments also benefit from the open captions supplementing the audio.
- Persons for whom English is a second or third language.
- Persons without disabilities often note that captioning helps in taking notes and improves understanding and recall.
- Anyone in the audience when variations of sound quality or surrounding noise distractions.
YouTube Captions Amara Otter.ai ZipCaptions
Brightspace
Many features in Brightspace can be adjusted to improve access for individuals with disabilities.