Building accessibility into your course

In a physical classroom the barriers can be obvious. If students in the back row don't nod when you ask if they can hear you, you know you need to turn up the volume. If no one responds when you say "can you hear me?" into your microphone, you probably need to unmute yourself in Teams.

Not all barriers are quite this obvious. Thankfully, there is an entire field focused on how to improve access to physical spaces. VIU, with help from the Rick Hansen Foundation, has improved navigation of our Nanaimo campus. The multi-year project:

• improved access to elevated
• produced new navigation signs
• updated online maps annotated with accessible routes

These changes have improved campus navigation for everyone, not only people with disabilities.

VIU has also made progress towards equipping all classrooms with movable tables and seats. Furniture that you can rearrange gives you flexibility for classroom activities. It also helps accommodate a variety of bodies. However, moving the classroom furniture can also create barriers. If you are planning an activity that will require moving the furniture, consider the access needs of your students.

• Maintain a pathway free of cords or clutter through the classroom. This pathway should be at least 36 inches wide.
• Ensure students who are hard of hearing or have low vision are able to place themselves close to anything they need to see or hear
• Have chairs available for students in larger bodies. These should be chairs detached from any desk and without arms.
• Let students know ahead of time that you will be arranging the class in a new way and invite students to speak to you about any concerns.

Online learning can be especially challenging for students who:

• are deaf
• are blind
• have low vision or colour blindness
• have challenges with fine motor control
• cannot afford to update old technology to access resource-intensive platforms
• rely on public Wi-Fi (such as at a library or coffee shop)

This is because online learning spaces often ask students to:

• read PDFs and other documents that are not formatted for different screen sizes
• read material in a specific amount of time during a virtual meeting
• watch videos or listen to audio files
• click specific parts of the screen to complete an activity or navigate content

So, how can you tell if your content is accessible for students? The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a common measure for online accessibility. The World Wide Web Consortium created these guidelines. They periodically release new versions as the internet evolves. The current version is WCAG 2.2. However, WCAG 3.0 is currently in development. WCAG addresses needs for users with any of the following:

• blindness, low vision and other vision impairments
• deafness and hearing loss
• limited movement and dexterity
• speech disabilities
• sensory disorders
• cognitive and learning disabilities

They also aim to be applicable to a wide variety of devices including personal computers and mobile devices. When we make recommendations for improving accessibility, these come from current WCAG guidelines.

Accessibility checking tools

Many tools you can use to create content and activities have tools designed to check for common accessibility challenges.

• Microsoft Accessibility Checker
• VIULearn Accessibility Checker
• WAVE Accessibility Checking Browser Extensions

Some of the access challenges you find when you look at your classroom may not have a quick, easy fix. It is important to report these types of barriers through the appropriate channels. This ensures Facilities, IT or whoever on campus is able to remove or mitigate the barrier knows about it. The Universal Access website contains many helpful resources:

• Report an Access Issue
• VIU Accessible Web Map
• Building Accessibility Information

To maximize readability in the classroom, follow these tips

• Choose an easy to read san serif font (such as Calibri or Arial).
• Use 18pt font or larger for body text.
• Ensure a high contrast between text and background.
  • A pure white background can be hard on the eyes. Consider a light cream or grey that provides at least a 4:1 contrast with the text
  • A dark background with light text is also acceptable.
• Limit the amount of text on each slide to 1-3 lines.
  • Put details in Speaker Notes or split complex ideas over several slides.
• Avoid using colour on its own to convey meaning or importance.
  • Do not underline text unless it is a hyperlink
• Use structured layouts that present text and images in predictable ways.
  • This helps lessen the cognitive load for everyone. It can specifically can help dyslexic students read your slides

We also recommend making your slides available in VIULearn a few minutes before class. This allows students to display your slides on their personal device. Students can then make adjustments to font size and colour if needed so they can easily read your slides. For more on setting up accessible see Best practices for making PowerPoint accessible.

To maximize readability:

• Use a font size of at least 12pt with 1.5 spacing.
• Use high contrast colours.
  • Printed material is most readable in black and white.
  • Restrict colour to headlines or to highlight material.
  • Ensure you are never conveying meaning or importance through colour alone. Bold font is better than italics or upper case for emphasizing text.
• Avoid underlines for printed material as this generally conveys that text is a link.
• Print on matte paper.
• If presenting a lot of material to read, consider separating it into columns. Columns require less eye movement and peripheral vision and are easier to read.

We recommend you upload a digital copy of the handout in VIULearn. Like with slides, this allows students to adjust the document or have it read to them by a screen reader as needed. A digital copy will also be required if you have a blind student who needs to convert the document to braille.

When possible, we recommend having students watch videos outside of classroom time. This allows students to speed up or slow down the video, turn captions on or off, and rewatch sections to ensure understanding. It also frees up valuable face to face time for more interactive learning opportunities. To find out if a video you want to use in your course can be made available online, please contact the VIU Library. Library staff can help you find or request a digital copy of a video so you can make this accessible for your students.

If you are not able to ask students to watch the video before class, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Students with low vision or who are hard of hearing may need to sit at the front of the room when you are showing a video. Give students advanced notice when you are going to show a video. Invite students to discuss any concerns about this with you before the class. If they know what is coming, students can also self select a seat closer to the front of the room as needed.
• Enable closed captions by default—even if you don't think anyone in your class needs them.

It's easier for students to focus if they know what you expect them to learn. If they know what the goal of a lesson was, students will also be able to reflect and self assess their learning. Adding a low stakes reflection at the end of class can encourage students to do this reflection. See our page on Active Learning for some ideas for reflective activities. These activities help students solidify their understanding. They also give you valuable information about what students may need more help to understand.

Variety is a great tool in your tool belt as an instructor. However, changes in how you organize class can cause stress for students. A simple and effective way to reduce this stress is to let students know what to expect. Do you teach through lectures and discussions? Is it a classroom where students can expect to move around a lot? will you ask them to work in groups or take their learning outside the classroom?

If you know the shape of your class and activities from the start of term, include this in your syllabus. If you tend to adjust as you move through the term, give your students notice of changes before the next class. Use a VIULearn announcement or an email to the class to share what the format of the next class is going to be. Everyone, but especially neurodiverse students, will appreciate time to prepare for a change.

Use clear language when giving instructions and explaining assessment for the course. Build in a process for students to clarify what you are looking for. Invite questions in class time or in a dedicated space in VIULearn.

University classes often have what researchers call a "hidden curriculum." This is a shorthand for information we expect students to know but don't communicate. This can include knowledge about norms on campus (such as office hours) or specific to your course (how to prepare for a lab or what is a reflection).

Avoid assuming that students bring a specific knowledge or skillset to your course. Instead, make the norms, values and expectations in your course clear. Remind students of supports available to help them with relevant skills for assignments. For example, if your course includes writing essays or reflections, remind students about the VIU Writing Center. This can help make your teaching more inclusive to all students.