爱漫岛

• To make accessibility a priority, schools can perform audits of classes to ensure all videos have closed captioning, all images have alt text, and all hyperlinks are unique.
• Because faculty don’t always prioritize accessibility, schools should constantly remind instructors how to keep their courses compliant, even when they add last-minute material.
• Accessibility benefits all learners, including those who don’t wish to disclose their disabilities and those who find it easier to consume content in alternate forms.

 
As online education becomes standard at universities worldwide, how can schools make certain that every student can benefit equally from virtual courses? That question became even more urgent in the U.S. following an April 2024 from the Department of Justice, which requires state and local institutions to meet standards that ensure that website content and mobile applications are available to people with disabilities. But accessibility is an issue that affects schools everywhere.

In February, members of 爱漫岛’s Online Learning Affinity Group met in a to discuss the challenges of complying with the ruling and the benefits of expanding accessibility to all students. Participants explored best practices for designing inclusive online learning environments, meeting student accommodation needs, and remediating courses that don’t meet accessibility standards.

The event was moderated by Renee Ford, senior instructional designer at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. Other participants included Michael Christie, multimedia specialist and educational technologist at the Smeal College; Kaitlyn Beck, senior instructional designer at Temple University’s Fox School of Business in Philadelphia; Bora Ozkan, associate professor of finance at the Fox School; and Rebecca Moulder, senior instructional design project leader at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Together, participants discussed the many obstacles that schools might face when adapting educational materials to serve students with wide-ranging needs and learning styles. Said Ford, “Whether we’re anticipating common barriers or responding to specific accommodation requests, it’s safe to say we’re all working toward creating more inclusive learning experiences.”

Accessibility First

Panelists noted that their schools approach accessibility from both a proactive standpoint (building accessibility into courses from the beginning) and a reactive one (fixing courses once a problem is discovered). For example, Ford said that at Smeal efforts have spanned the gamut from implementing to undertaking more intensive remediation measures to support students with specific disabilities.

All participants agreed that everything goes more smoothly when accessibility is at the forefront of course design at the outset. If schools make accessibility the standard for all courses, materials, and experiences, said Beck, “everyone will have the opportunity to participate, engage, and interact without barriers.”

To put accessibility first, schools should perform audits of classes to determine whether all materials and course assets are equally available to all students. This means instructional designers need to go through courses asset by asset to ensure every element is compliant—for instance, that every nondecorative image has alt text, every link has a unique name, and every video is available with closed captioning.

To prioritize accessibility, schools should provide multiple ways for students to consume content so different kinds of learners have options that work best for them.

Instructional designers also sometimes clean up other details professors might not notice. As an example, Penn State’s Christie will only allow underlining to be used to indicate a hyperlink; he relies on italic or boldface to indicate phrases that require special emphasis. Such an approach provides uniformity and lessens the chance of confusion, he explained.

Color is something else he watches closely, because poor color contrast makes text difficult to read. “I end up recreating lots of diagrams and charts from scratch,” he said. “White text on orange is a particularly common fail, even if it looks like the contrast is fine. Orange has to be almost brown before it will pass.”

Schools that want to prioritize accessibility also should provide multiple ways for students to consume content so different kinds of learners have options that work best for them. For instance, participants emphasized that when videos are part of the class, they need to be available with closed captioning, for use with screen readers, and as transcripts.

Many tools exist that can help schools achieve accessibility goals. Participants mentioned Instructure’s and Blackboard’s for improving general accessibility and for providing automated closed captioning. In addition, —an AI platform developed in collaboration with the University of Illinois—is dedicated to making online education accessible to all learners by helping institutions meet the highest accessibility standards swiftly and affordably.

The Faculty Component

Achieving and maintaining the accessibility of courses requires constant collaboration between instructional designers and professors—in part because faculty might not make compliance their top priority.

Beck provides faculty at the Fox School with biweekly announcements containing resources, tips, and other information “just to keep the topic at the forefront of their minds as they progress through the semester. We want to continuously remind them to always be thinking about accessibility, not just when they get an accommodation request.”

Panelists offer resources in multiple formats so that—just like students—faculty can consume content in ways that work best for them. At Temple, these resources include podcasts, infographics, and other guides. They also include a Canvas course that acts as a repository of basic information and takes professors through compliance with the (ADA). In addition, instructional designers provide guidance, resources, and compliance templates as faculty develop courses.

“We try to hit from any angle that could work to drive the points home and encourage them to do the best they can,” said Beck.

Maintaining accessibility requires constant collaboration between instructional designers and professors because faculty might not make compliance their top priority.

Instructional designers work particularly closely with professors who teach online courses at Fox. That’s because the school has made accessibility compliance a priority with online courses, which can attract learners who have challenges that might not be visible to instructors. Therefore, everyone who teaches a virtual course must get an online teaching certificate, which includes a module on complying with the ADA.

But even when courses are compliant at the beginning of the semester, circumstances can change. Instructors who find a last-minute article an hour before class need the flexibility to add it to the course even if it’s in a nonaccessible format. “That’s the best thing for learning, so we can’t fault them, even if we end up playing catch-up,” said Christie.

Beck added, “I do find that is one of the challenges—to keep people honest with their approach when they’re not being monitored per se.” Instructional designers mitigate the problems by being as proactive as possible at the beginning, remediating problems as they arise, and constantly reminding professors of the importance of accessible materials.

Even so, some professors are less than enthusiastic about going to the effort of meeting accessibility requirements. But that often changes, said Moulder, when students with disabilities enroll in their courses.

As a recent example, when professors realized that blind students in their EMBA courses couldn’t read PDFs or slides, they became much more empathetic and were motivated to make changes that would provide students “with the best experience possible,” Moulder said. Now, these professors are willing to submit slides and simulations in advance so any problems can be taken care of before class starts.

New Standards

Panelists in the forum are looking ahead to how they will comply with the Department of Justice’s ruling, which outlines standards that schools must meet by April 2026. At the same time, they are considering ways to adhere to the (WCAG) set out by the , which aims to make web content available to every user.

Smeal is taking a multitiered approach to both goals, said Ford. Faculty who teach hybrid or online courses already are paired with instructional designers, and the school now is prioritizing which classes to focus on next. Those might include courses that enroll the most students and those that currently have low accessibility scores.

“One of the things we find over and over is that when we attend to best practices in accessibility, it benefits all learners.”—Renee Ford, Penn State University

“Then our plan is to provide resources, training, and support to ensure that all courses at all levels go through accessibility audits and have all materials made accessible to all participants,” said Ford. “We’re definitely going to need more human and technological resources.”

At the University of Pennsylvania, said Moulder, the central computing office has updated its policies so older websites and mobile apps meet current WCAG standards; new ones will comply with updated standards. “We’re planning how we can roll out a greater accessibility review process starting at the early design stages for courses,” she said.

Unexpected Advantages

As more schools seek ways to meet accessibility goals, they will continue to refine their strategies. Panelists pointed out there are distinct advantages to making most if not all courses available to everyone.

First, accessibility benefits students who have disabilities but are not willing to report them. Moulder notes that about 20 percent of learners have some disability or accessibility need. However, according to Ozkan of the Fox School, many students feel too ashamed or guilty to ask for accommodations. While it can be a challenge to break that perception, Ozkan explains to students that accommodations are just a way of leveling the playing field.

Second, even students who don’t need accommodations can benefit from accessibility measures. As an example, students who don’t have difficulty hearing might prefer having videos available in transcript form. These students might be nonauditory learners or nonnative speakers who want to translate lectures into their own languages. Or they might simply be on a train commute and find it easier to read than to listen.

“One of the things we find over and over is that when we attend to best practices in accessibility, it doesn’t just benefit students with identified disabilities. It benefits all learners,” said Ford.

She added, “Accessibility is an ongoing journey or process. Our goal is to create the best teaching and learning experience for everyone involved.”