Teaching for Inclusion

 

 

Accessibility is the degree to which digital content and technologies can be equally accessed and used by as many people as possible, including individuals with disabilities. With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and subsequent updates in 2008, disability rights are protected as civil rights in the United States.

As educators, we want to ensure all learners can access and participate equally in our courses. Ensuring that we follow and utilize best practices when developing content and using technologies furthers Rice's mission and values of responsibility, integrity, community, and excellence.

Canvas

The Canvas learning management system (LMS) includes many essential accessibility features. Creating and sharing accessible content is one of the most important things we can do to make sure our courses are usable for all students. Learn more about how to design with accessibility in mind by reviewing the Getting Familiar with Accessibility in Canvas module within the Teaching with Technology master course by Learning Environments.

UDOIT

The Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool (UDOIT) will scan your Canvas course content, generate a list of accessibility issues, provide guidance on how to correct them, and includes a feature called Student Access that allows students to generate alternative file formats.

Get started by adding UDOIT to your Canvas course navigation.

  1. Select the “Settings” link in the Canvas course navigation menu.
  2. Select the “Navigation” tab.
  3. Enable “UDOIT Cloud.” Click and drag it from lower box to upper box or use the ellipsis.
  4. Click “Save.”

What UDOIT Looks For

UDOIT scans the HTML of the announcements, assignments, discussions, pages, syllabus and module URLs for common accessibility issues. These issues include things like missing alternative text for images, avoiding using color for emphasis or missing heading levels. The scan reports them as either errors that need to be fixed or suggestions to improve the usability of content. Files also get scanned in your course, which looks for issues that make it difficult for disabled students to equally access your files. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDFs currently are scanned.

Turn on Student Access Feature

UDOIT Advantage includes the Student Access feature that allows students to quickly access and generate alternative file formats in Canvas. This feature is especially important for students with disabilities or those that would like to consume file content in a different format such as MP3. Please ensure this feature is turned on in your course to support students and help them access content in the format that works for them.

  1. Navigate to UDOIT and look to the top right side of the page for the three little dot menu or the kebab. Click the menu.
  2. Scroll down to the "Course Settings" option and click it.
  3. Ensure both options "enable students to access existing alternative formats" AND "allow students to generate additional file formats" are checked.
  4. Enabling Student Access adds a drop-down menu next to linked files in your Canvas content. This menu will display the existing alternate formats you have generated with UDOIT and (if enabled) other formats that students can request. Once an alternate format has been generated by any user, it will be available through the drop-down menu for all students to use.
  5. Any time you add or edit a course file, re-run the UDOIT scan so the alternative formats option will appear for students.

Watch this three minute video on Student Access.

Learn more about UDOIT in the Getting Familiar with Accessibility in Canvas module.

Using Accessible Documents & Resources

One of the easiest ways to ensure the digital content we put in front of students is accessible is to create them with accessibility in mind. If you are using digital content from the library or the web, there are steps you can take to assess how accessible and usable these formats will be for students. Check out the Using Accessible Documents & Resources page of the Teaching with Technology master course from Learning Environments to learn more.

Universal Design


Inclusion and flexibility are key concepts in Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Providing digital information in multiple formats gives our audience more choices that facilitate greater access. Watch the six minute video What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL) below to learn more about this pedagogy.

One fun and practicable way to improve digital access is with what Dr. Thomas Tobin calls Plus-One Thinking.
If your digital information and communication are only available in one format, consider providing one more (i.e. “Plus-one”).

  • Have a text-heavy document?
    Plus-one by recording a video that demonstrates key concepts.

  • Have a data table?
    Plus-one by providing an infographic or a pie chart.

  • Have a multiple choice final exam?
    Plus-one by offering a paper or authentic project.