I am currently a Graduate Assistant for the Instructional Design Team at the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. As I learn the patterns and processes of instructional design, I am surprised by the level of expertise that goes into accessibility measures. Given that I have never worked with students who needed such accommodations, I never considered what accommodations for students with disabilities entail.

I have learned that students with disabilities often utilize assistive technologies to support their learning and that instructional designers must design instructional materials and documents that meet accessibility standards, professionally and ethically. This even applies to PDFs and Microsoft Word documents. I categorize accessibility in higher education as “new” because twenty years ago, I don’t think it would have been a consideration. In fact, many top learning management systems still don’t adhere to accessibility standards, which I think will eventually come back to bite the companies that produce the LMSs.

While none of my students at my teaching job have approached me to request accommodations, I know one day I will encounter a student who will need me to be knowledgeable of assistive technologies and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Because of that, I am happy that I am being introduced to these practices through my assistantship and that as a college instructor, I will eventually have the opportunity to provide needed support to a student who needs it.

Below is a link to a MOOC titled An Introduction to Accessibility and Inclusive Design through which educators can learn more about accessibility practices in education. I am currently enrolled in the course. 

https://www.coursera.org/learn/accessibility?action=enroll