Accessibility for Beginners

Accessibility is one of those topics that everyone hears about, but not a lot of people really understand. For most folks, accessibility is associated with disability. While that association is correct, it is definitely far from complete.

Accessibility is absolutely necessary to ensure that everyone who lives in a society is able to experience all that it has to offer, but it does more than include individuals with disabilities.

Done right, accessibility helps everyone access the world around us. According to the CDC, and estimated 26% of adults in the U.S. are living with a disability ("Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic | CDC", 2020). Compare that to data from National Center for Education Statistics 2018-19 data that tells us that 14% of students enrolled in public schools are receiving services under IDEA, and it becomes pretty clear that there are quite a few individuals living with disabilities that they may not even be aware of ("The Condition of Education - Preprimary, Elementary, and Secondary Education - Elementary and Secondary Enrollment - Students With Disabilities - Indicator May (2020)", 2020).

As educators, we are required to provide accommodations for students with disabilities who have IEPs or 504 plans, and we go about making sure that it happens, and for the most part, do a pretty good job of it. What we sometimes fail to recognize is that we probably have students in our classes who need those same accommodations, but haven't yet had the benefit of learning about their own needs and the accommodations that might help them... and that's where design with accessibility in mind pays off.

If we design our lessons and materials, particularly those delivered via an online platform, with accessibility in mind, we are creating a learning environment that supports all of our learners - whether or not they have a diagnosed disability.

Designing with accessibility in mind takes time and practice, but it is something that is within reach of everyone. There are a lot of great tools and resources available for folks who want to learn more and start making learning experiences better for all students.

In the meantime, I have created a sort of quick start guide for anyone wanting to know a little to get started, without being too overwhelming.

Accessibility for Beginners by Megan Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.wuhcag.com/wcag-checklist/; https://youtu.be/LZy_WviXw2w; http://udlguidelines.cast.org/?utm_medium=web&utm_campagin=none&utm_source=cast-home://youtu.be/kziXJX6a7E4; https://webaccess.msu.edu/Tutorials/google-drive.html.