Dive Brief:
- The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities has released a report called “Equity Matters: Digital and Online Learning for Students with Disabilities,” offering a national look at online learning policy and where students with disabilities fit in.
- Phys.org reports that states overwhelmingly fail to account for the needs of students with disabilities in their online learning policies, with only five offering examples of appropriate accommodations for these students in an online learning environment.
- While the report can offer a comprehensive look at policy and access, authors call for school-level data to be made available to figure out if students’ needs are being met, in practice, and to study what is and is not working.
Dive Insight:
While the Equity Matters report is focused on K-12 education, the concept of access in online education is incredibly important for the higher education sphere as well. Campus Computing Project Founding Director Kenneth C. Green said at Educause this year that many institutions have "lawsuits waiting to happen" when it comes to digital resources and services for disabled users.
At the University of Montana, a complaint to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights prompted a united front on campus to address online accessibility issues. Providing accessible online resources for all students is law for any institution receiving federal dollars. Colleges and universities should not wait for a legal nudge to address compliance.