Balancing Pedagogy, Interactivity, and Accessibility: A Faculty-IT Support Partnership (176860652)

7/27/2019 Balancing Pedagogy, Interactivity, and Accessibility: A Faculty-IT Support Partnership (176860652)

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Universal Design for Learning in Higher

Education

Kara Zirkle, IT Accessibility Coordinator, Assistive Technology

Initiative Office

Balancing access with

innovation…



Assistive Technology Initiative

MissionTo help provide individuals with disabilities an

accessible university environment by supporting

access to all technological, architectural, and educationalresources available at George Mason University through:

n the incorporation of assistive technologies

n the provision of technical support

n and the development of university-wide strategies for

universal access.



Statement of the Problem

n Increasing numbers of student’s with disabilities enteringhigher education

n Greater implementation of online/e-learning technologies in

higher education classrooms

n Some of the issues...

n TechSmith Camtasia vs. Adobe Captivate

n Interaction vs. Accessibility – How do you find a middle ground?

n Designing: Compatibility of Technologyn Document and 3rd party tools and Website Accessibility

n Inaccessible e-learning technologies (i.e., LMS, supplemental

materials) implemented in the classroom

n Videos not captioned and/or audio-described at beginning of course

n Inaccessible course textbooks



Universal Design for Learning

n Universal Design for Learning (UDL) encourages three

basic principles (“Universal Design for Learning | K12

Academics,” n.d.):

n Multiple means of representation to give learners various ways of

acquiring information and knowledge,

n Multiple means of expression to provide learners alternatives for

demonstrating what they know, and

n Multiple means of engagement to tap into learners' interests,

challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to learn.

http://www.k12academics.com/pedagogy/universal-design-learning







HOW ARE WE WORKING TO IMPLEMENT UDL?

What we did – Accessibility Makeover

• ATI was able to caption videos and

provide a link to an accessible YouTube

video.

• Links to captioned and non-captioned

videos were provided in the modules

allowing for a Universal Design for learners to choose the desired format.

Interactive quizzes were used in Camtasia

so to provide similar experience the

content was provided in a way that the

students used the LMS quiz rather than

the built in quiz feature of the screen

capture.

• Document accessibility was addressed by

checking Microsoft Word, PPT and Adobe

PDF documents using Build-in

accessibility.

• Resources were made available so

students could change document formats

using free conversion to meet the desired

format for accessibility.

After Accessibility was implemented

During the Meeting we covered:

• The process of captioning and how

many videos would need to be

captioned.

• Accessible video players (YouTube)

• Differences between Camtasia or

Captivate and the Pros/Cons of each

• Document accessibility

• Course Modules and how to make them

interactive yet accessible

Most importantly since we reviewed the

course mid-way through creation:

• Reviewed areas and discussed ideas on

how to build in accessibility WITHOUT

re-creating the entire course.

Before Accessibility was implemented

21



Baseline Design Considerations for

Accessible Course Materials

Visual Impairments:

n Provide descriptions for all meaningful graphics (images, charts,

graphs, SmartArt, objects)

n Provide descriptions for videos where visual content is important

to understanding subject matter.

n Use simple tables. when possible

n Choose applications that support keyboard navigation and are

compatible with screen readers

Hearing Impairments:

n Provide captions all videos

n Provide transcripts for audio only

Cognitive, Neurological Impairments:

n

Use consistent navigation, tab order, appropriate language level



Summary of AccessibilityReview Process

As a result, the course is now designed so that not only students with

disabilities can access the material, but also ESL students can benefit

from captioned videos and transcripts, non traditional learners can choose

between viewing PPTs or listening to videos and mobile users can access

material of their choice based upon the internet connection at that time.

Discussed

alternatives with

faculty to include

accessibility

Tested course

areas for

accessibility

Met with faculty

member to

discuss course

design



Common Resources used for

Accessibility

n PC Microsoft Office 2010-2013 use the

built in Accessibility Wizard

n Use PDF Read Out Loud on AdobeReader to see if the document will r ead

correctly

n Use Mac Text to Speech or VoiceOver tosee if the document will read correctly

n Test Websites for Accessibility - Wave

n Free document conversion Sensusaccess

What you can do as a Faculty member with technology you already have

http://webaccessibility.gmu.edu/2010_checker.html

http://webaccessibility.gmu.edu/PDF.html




http://www.apple.com/accessibility/osx/

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/osx/voiceover/

http://wave.webaim.org/

http://sensusaccess.com/

http://sensusaccess.com/

http://wave.webaim.org/

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/osx/voiceover/

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/osx/


http://webaccessibility.gmu.edu/2010_checker.html



Contact Information

Kara Zirkle, IT Accessibility

Coordinator

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 703-993-9815

For more information please visit

our websites:

n ATI Office: http://ati.gmu.edu

n Web Accessibility Information:

http://webaccessibility.gmu.edu

mailto:[email protected]

http://ati.gmu.edu/

http://webaccessibility.gmu.edu/

http://webaccessibility.gmu.edu/

http://ati.gmu.edu/

mailto:[email protected]

Balancing Pedagogy, Interactivity, and Accessibility: A Faculty-IT Support Partnership (176860652)

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