Dive Brief:
- A 10-step plan for making online courses accessible to all students through the principles of universal design for learning, developed by faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, have been highlighted in a recent report from researchers at Montana State University.
- According to eCampus News, the 10 steps fit into the MSU researchers' identification of three overarching principles of effective universal design for online education: presentation, action and expression, and engagement and interaction.
- For presentation, faculty should consider display, offering simple and consistent navigation and choosing color and fonts carefully; the action and expression principle focuses on discussion board etiquette; and, for engagement and interaction, LMS tools should be accessible, as should document formats, and PowerPoints should be converted to HTML.
Dive Insight:
All schools receiving federal funding, including financial aid, must be in compliance with accessibility regulations, and the reality is that many are not.
The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities recently released a report on the state of access in online courses, finding serious shortcomings in state policy and calling for more data at the school level. At the University of Montana, it took a complaint to the Office of Civil Rights to prompt a serious commitment to making change.
As more of education moves online, students with disabilities have increasing opportunities to take advantage of accessible content, which text on paper is not. But it is up to schools and individual faculty members to ensure they have that opportunity.