Accessibility, Disability, and Why They Matter

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WHAT ACCESSIBILITY IS AND ISN'T

For the purposes of this self-paced course, we're defining accessibility as reducing or eliminating the barriers to accessing and participating in your course to its fullest extent.

To say that your course is accessible is to say that you have taken intentional steps in your course design to reduce or eliminate barriers your students may face. Throughout this course, we'll be looking at the most important steps to take when using Canvas to deliver your course.

You probably came into this course with ideas about what accessibility means. Here are a few important points to consider:

• Accessibility cannot be automated. Later in this module, we'll discuss the role of automated accessibility checkers. It's important to know going into this, though, that you can't simply run your course through a checker and call it a day.
• Accessibility isn't difficult or confusing. If your view of accessibility is as a huge and confusing "black box," fear not! While making your course accessible does require intentional steps, following those steps is actually straightforward. We've designed this course to make accessibility approachable, regardless of your technical experience or knowledge.
• Accessibility is not a checkbox. Instead of being something you can check off with your course, accessibility is an approach. There are always more possibilities for making your courses accessible, and accessibility will continue to change as technology changes. This course will teach you the latest techniques, but it will also help you understand the underlying theory so you can approach your courses from an accessibility lens now and in the future. While we have included a PDF checklist in this course, this checklist is meant as a reference for you to refresh yourself, rather than as the definitive list of Canvas accessibility.

While much of this course is focused on digital accessibility—how to use Canvas and other digital tools to make your course accessible—we'll also discuss other forms of accessibility, as well as connected pedagogical approaches, especially in the module Beyond Accessibility: How to Use Universal Design to Engage All Students.

RETHINKING DISABILITY

You may have noticed that we've avoided using the word "disability" so far. That's because we'd like to encourage you to rethink your conception of disability in the context of accessibility.

Disability does not exist on its own: it is a mismatch between a person and the society or environment they are living in. As the World Health Organization Links to an external site. puts it, "disability is not just one health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person's body and features of the society in which he or she lives."

Disabilities are often referred to in three categories: Permanent, Temporary, or Situational. Consider, for instance, how different people might experience a mismatch between hearing ability and a task such as watching a video lecture.

• Permanent: An individual with permanent hearing loss or tinnitus may be unable to hear the lecturer at all.
• Temporary: An individual who is experiencing temporary hearing loss, such as after a loud concert, may have difficulty hearing the content.
• Situational: An individual watching the video in a loud environment, such as public transportation, may not be able to understand all the spoken content.

The solution for all of these individuals is the same: accurate captions. Moreover, captions help people who don't even fit into any of those three categories, such as students who learn better with seeing written words. An Oregon State University survey Links to an external site. of more than 2,000 students found that 98.6% of students said captions are helpful, and 75% said they used captions to enhance their learning.

This is what's known in disability studies as the curb cut effect Links to an external site.. When we design for individuals with disabilities, those same features are useful and beneficial for everyone. The curb cut effect takes its name from the cutouts in curbs that are used by pedestrians. While the first curb cuts were designed for users of wheelchairs, they have proven so broadly useful that they have become ubiquitous. If you've ever navigated a crosswalk with a stroller (or while immersed in your phone), you know how helpful a curb cut can be.

Accessibility in Canvas is largely focused on steps to reduce barriers for users of assistive technologies, such as screen readers. These steps have a broader impact as well. For instance, Step 1 of Canvas accessibility, alt text, is largely intended for individuals with vision disabilities who use screen readers. However, since alt text displays when an image does not load, it impacts students with poor internet connections or mobile data caps. It also benefits students who learn better through audio, as they may choose to use the Microsoft Immersive Reader in Canvas Links to an external site..

One of the effects of making your course accessible that you may find surprising, especially if you do not identify as someone with a disability, is how much accessibility can benefit the instructor of the course. For example, Step 2 of Canvas accessibility, section headings, can make revising your course in the future much easier, since proper use of section headings makes it much easier for you to locate specific content you want to revise.

Throughout this course, we'll be discussing the impact of accessibility on students with specific disabilities. However, we'll also highlight some of the broader impacts to help reinforce this idea: Accessibility benefits everyone, students and teachers, those who identify as having a disability and those who do not.

WHY ACCESSIBILITY MATTERS

Quite simply, accessibility is the right thing to do.

The aim of education is to better students' lives, and yet many students face significant barriers in higher education. An Institute of Education Sciences study Links to an external site. found that only 34% of college students who reported a disability completed their degree, while 51% of the general population completed their degree. It's also important to note that reported disabilities are not rare: 19% of undergraduate and 12% of graduate students report a disability (National Center for Education Statistics Links to an external site.), and many more likely live with a disability but do not report it.

As we discussed in the previous section, making your course accessible has a profound impact for a wide range of people. Your course is an important part of a student's journey in higher education. By making it accessible, by reducing the barriers and challenges students face to success, you help your students fully experience the education they want and deserve.

On the next page, we'll look at the human impacts of accessibility and take a deep dive into screen reader software. This will help you deepen your understanding of accessibility and how it affects your students.