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Accessibility Resources: Introduction

Getting Started

It may be helpful to think about accessibility as a continuum.

     Inaccessible experiences and materials exclude people.

     Barriers to Access can be auditory, cognitive or neurological, physical, speech, and/or visual.  Examples include:  

  • Complex navigation and webpage layouts
  • Long passages of text without images, graphs, or other illustrations to reinforce context.
  • Moving, blinking, or flickering content that cannot be paused or turned off 
  • Background audio that cannot be turned off
  • Visual page designs that cannot be adapted using custom style sheets
  • Excessive use of fonts and color that do not contribute to content 

Accommodations are modifications or adjustments made for an individual with a disability on an as-needed basis, and give access to whoever is there at the moment, which often requires extra work. For example, an item may be available because it is posted online. However, if not everyone can navigate or interact with the item then it is not accessible. The term accommodation refers to making a modification for someone to gain access or participate as fully as others.

Accessible digital experiences and materials provide equal access for everyone without extra work.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (Title II and Title III), Section 504 & 508 of Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Act, the World Wide Web Consortium (WCAG guidelines) and Ohio Law IT-09, require instructors to provide equal access to course materials for all students. These policies are enforced by the Office of Civil Rights. Our funding as an institution of higher learning and our HLC accreditation are tied to our courses being accessible. As we build courses online, it is important that we be aware of these laws and mandates and that we are educating ourselves in practices that will help us to create and maintain digital course materials that are accessible.

Stephen Craig, Director of Digital Learning and Design

UMU Campus Resources

UMU has two offices to assist students and provide faculty with ways to incorporate accessible content into their courses.

Statistics

Only 17% of college students with learning disabilities take advantage of learning assistance resources at their school. (National Center for Learning Disabilities)