Everyone on board

Creating accessible online learning through universal design

Abstract

This symposium will examine the potential barriers experienced by students with disability who choose to study online. Participants will consider the challenges as well as the opportunities educational technology affords an increasingly diverse student cohort. Co-presented by an educational designer and a student liaison officer specialising in assistive technologies, the benefits of proactively addressing accessibility will be argued. Participants will be introduced to the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how they may be incorporated into the curriculum, with a particular focus on online delivery. Participants will be invited to critique their own teaching materials such as Learning Management System (LMS) sites, lecture materials and public facing websites to identify accessibility issues. Participants will experience practical strategies and tools to increase accessibility within their learning design and teaching. These activities will be complemented by a list of resources for future reference. Participants will leave the session with a heightened awareness of accessibility issues within higher education and what actions they can take to be more inclusive within their own professional practice.