Accessibility & Universal Design
This developing gallery compiles collections that explore accessible teaching and learning through a wide variety of lenses. Start by grounding your exploration in the real experience of students, then use that as a basis to understand the theory and practice of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). From that foundation, expand your view to include practical strategies of inclusive course design and meeting planning, then explore emerging understandings of the impacts of AI on accessibility, disability bias, and inclusive pedagogy.
Collections
Accessibility and AI
This collection explores the intersection of AI and accessibility, highlighting how AI can both support and pose challenges to students with disabilities. It offers practical insights, strategies, and tools for fostering inclusive, accessible learning environments.
Supporting Neurodivergent Learners
Meeting the needs of neurodivergent students—those with ADHD or autism or other ways of processing information that aren't typical—requires thoughtful attention from instructors. The resources in this collection will help you design classes where your students can learn and succeed.
Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) seeks to eliminate barriers to learning based on research on how people learn. It's an inclusive approach that recognizes student strengths and provides flexibility in how students access and engage with material and show what they know.
Supporting Executive Functioning through Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Executive functions are those mental processes that support attention, organization, time management, and related tasks that are critical to learning. The resources here will help you apply universal design for learning (UDL) to better support students' executive functions.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the Syllabus
The syllabus is a reflection of one's course design and a powerful tool for defining the context of learning in your course. These Universal Design for Learning (UDL) resources help you create a more accessible and inclusive syllabus that reduces learning barriers and welcomes learner variability.
How Can You Integrate Inclusive Course Design Principles Into Your Canvas Course?
If you're interested in how you can leverage principles of transparency, sense of belonging, and accessibility to enhance your course in Canvas, check out the resources in this collection! We provide definitions for these concepts and include suggestions for small, incremental changes as well as larger, structural changes.
How Can AI Support Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?
This collection introduces you to resources when beginning or scaling-up your use of artificial intelligence (AI) in ways which strengthen or enhance accessibility or opportunities for universal design for learning (UDL).
Using AI to Support Students with Disabilities
Research shows that text-to-speech (TTS) is a prominent use of generative AI by students with disabilities. This collection features ideas for using AI to support students with disabilities in a variety of educational contexts and points to two AI-powered TTS tools.
Making the Most of Synchronous Online Teaching
The resources here explore strategies for engaging students in discussion and active learning in a synchronous online class session. Topics include preparing students for live sessions, facilitating in inclusive and accessible ways, and situating a synchronous session in a bigger course design.
What Can Accessibility Mean for My Students?
Accessible teaching involves more than making "reasonable accommodations" requested by individual students with disabilities. Where accommodations are reactive and targeted to individuals, accessibility is proactive and can affect many students. These resources give you a "behind-the-scenes" look at the impacts that accessibility can have on students in real-world ways you might not otherwise understand or recognize.