Session 6: Accessibility and Inclusive Design

Textbook Success Program May 2024 C Cohort
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Key Links:

Recap

Great to see everyone today for our meeting, @may24c-cohort! Accessibility is often thought about as just being for students with disabilities, but as we see it, accessibility benefits all. It’s about reframing accessibility as a proactive approach to designing inclusive teaching resources and experiences which are rooted in principles of care, humility, and social justice. Inclusive design, or the practice of inclusivity, is the belief that the design of a “thing” – whether it is a piece of technology, an activity, or even information itself – should be mindful of a broad range of users, their variable abilities, their variety of environments, situations, and contexts.

Access is one of the fundamental principles of the open movement broadly. Given OERs’ digital-first nature, this is all the more relevant as resources should not only conform to web accessibility standards, but they should also be designed with the human users in mind. In this way. we will think of web accessibility, content accessibility, and even how this can extend into the accessibility of your human teaching interactions.

While no teaching technique or practice will ever be universally accessible for all, an inclusive education lens can be integrated into any and all approaches as long as you think about accessibility as an ongoing process that has you repeatedly cycle through the following three stages:

(1) Anticipating barriers and (2) finding ways to mediate these barriers (3) to enhance access for all.

We looked at concrete examples for all three of accessibility dimensions in session, namely:

  1. Technical Dimension:

a. BCcampus Accessibility Toolkit as a guide to help non-technical users make content accessible, including images, links, tables, multimedia, formulas, font size.
b. Building a Medical Terminology Foundation We looked at Chapter 6 to see how alt. text for images and image descriptions are presented.
c. Accessibility Assessment To communicate to your users the results of an assessment undertaken towards the end of completing an OER.

  1. Content dimension:

a. Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies chapter 5 communicates outcomes and aligns the Iearning activities with the written content. As you will clearly see, the content Is informed by different social and cultural perspectives.

  1. Human dimension:

a. Building Democracy for All The introduction to this text will show you how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles have informed its design and Active Learning opportunities were incorporated to further engage the learners in unique ways.
b. Students and instructor users in the course/material/program evaluation and development processes, e.g. through adoption and user feedback surveys.

For some of you, this might be the first time you’re hearing about these concepts and considering them this deeply. It takes time to develop these skills, and it is a practice.

There is no expectation that you will immediately incorporate everything described here with the resources we shared. Check with your grant organiser if and what accessibility stipulations are to help you focus and put a plan in place how you will meet the requirements. With forethought and flexibility, accessibility is built into the process of publishing. Try not to be overwhelmed. Take small steps because these small steps will go a long way. And remember you are uniting your efforts with other people within your teams, within this cohort, within your institutions or beyond. If everyone chips away at a small task, you’ll bring the resource leaps ahead. Ultimately, it’s about giving your resource the best chance to make an impact and difference for people.

Homework Activity

Visit the Universal Design for Learning website with the guidelines that we reviewed in our session. On the homepage, you will find the guidelines at the bottom of the page in the areas of engagement, representation, and action & expression. Pick one area (either a single guideline or a box) and follow the link to a fuller description. In a response to this post, explain how you would incorporate that aspect(s) into your OER book or course.

Looking forward to seeing you next week for session 7.

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Activate or supply background knowledge (checkpoint3.1)

As a math textbook, it is going to be vital to provide background knowledge as a new topic or concept is introduced. Many of the topics we are going to cover relate to concepts the students already know, so showing those connections is going to be very important to help students better understand the new material.

Highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships (checkpoint3.2)

In math, understanding the connections and relationships between old and new material is very important. Helping students see patterns and understand how those patterns can help them understand how to solve the problem.

These two parts of the UDL will be very important as we build our OER textbook and course!

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The Clarify vocabulary and symbols portion of “Representation” will be used in the Criminology Cohort’s textbook as there are a plethora of concepts and terms associated with the various theories in crime causation. Pressbook has a Glossary functionality that is very useful. Alt-text, captioning, and transcripts will be used with all multimedia.

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I would like to increase the level of engagement by offering students more autonomy in making choices about their assignments, such as allowing them to present a homework assignment individually or as a group. I have done this previously by allowing them previously by having them complete a media review assignment. I notice that giving the choice of either completing the powerpoint presentations individually or allowing 2 individuals to work together worked out really well. I hope that I am getting the just of this…

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Guide information processing and visualization

This course takes concepts from elementary mathematics connecting them and extending them to deeper levels. The book structure will be set-up exactly to meet this checkpoint: guiding students by starting with concepts they know and slowly extending it. For example, a concept might start with concrete things like physical manipulatives and move through steps and discussion to a matching algorithm on paper.

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Incorporating multimedia communication into an OER textbook can significantly enhance the learning experience by catering to diverse learning styles and improving student engagement. For instance, in the Applied Algebra textbook, integrating instructional videos demonstrating the step-by-step process of solving algebraic equations can help visual and auditory learners better grasp complex concepts more effectively. Additionally, including interactive elements such as quizzes, simulations, and dynamic graphs can provide students with immediate feedback and allow them to explore algebraic principles in a hands-on manner. Utilizing multimedia not only makes the content more accessible and engaging but also supports deeper understanding and retention of the material.

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As I understand what we are looking for in math our textbook, it’s crucial to integrate background knowledge when introducing new topics or concepts. Many of these topics are interconnected with what students already know, so highlighting these connections will greatly enhance their comprehension of the new material. I believe understanding these relationships and patterns is key in math, as they provide insights into problem-solving strategies. Integrating the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) are pivotal as we develop our OER textbook and course.

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UDL: Language and Symbols

To mitigate communication breakdown and promote clarity of the overall work, a section at the front of the book could be provided explaining “how to use this OER book.” It could be in written, video, and audio formats for ease of access. The section could provide greater detail of expressing intentions of the authors, setup and layout walkthrough explanations of the work, and address any potential barriers the creators perceive in foresight, etc.

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Enhance capacity for monitoring progress. We want the students to understand why they have to learn about food safety. By asking about their experiences with foodborne illness, allergies, etc., we can create a community with shared experiences. For monitoring progress, we are exploring the pre-test and post-test options, which include learning objectives for each module. We want the students to be able to monitor their learning along with the instructors.

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Accessibility and Inclusion homework. From the assigned website - comprehension. Comprehension for a particular chapter will begin with a ‘pre-test’ allowing the student to assess what they actually know about the subject prior to the lesson. This will have the student to engage with the material on a deeper level rather than cursory reading from the beginning with possible engagement along the way.

Linking the material to examples familiar to the learner, the material will become easier to remember through known associations. as opposed to being seen as innate data. Regarding checkpoint 3.2, big ideas, and important information will be highlighted and included in the chapter summary. For example, one of the members of the group suggested pathogens be linked to functions such as handwashing or cooking temperatures. A lack of hand cleanliness leaves to susceptible to these issues, while improper cooking temps could allow for those issues. The key becomes hand washing and cooking as a link to understand the bad bug dangers.

Checkpoint 3.3 meaning-making. Models and examples, stories and linkages will be used to aid the learner in processing and retaining chapter information. Each chapter will also include assessment questions to help prepare the learner for the standardized exam required by the DHH. Achieving checkpoint 3.4 maximum transfer, will be a collective endeavor throughout the text.

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The criminal justice field is related to our social norms, what society deems acceptable, and what is not acceptable by laws. The effects of crime are relevant, whether directly or indirectly associated. Checkpoint 7.2, Optimizing Relevance, Value, and Authenticity, is a UDL guideline I would like to incorporate in the Corrections OER project.

The incorporation of culturally and socially relevant material will help engage readers because the information communicates social norm relevance and invites individuals to reflect on and relate to the material. Optimizing relevance, as I understand, can help the material be more interesting and consumable, overall, more meaningful to the reader.

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I have chosen the area of Engagement and specifically the guideline of “Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence.”

I would focus on creating a structured and supportive learning environment that encourages persistence and effort. This could be achieved through the following strategies such as: Clear learning goals and objectives, Frequent feedback and possible checkpoints, having a variety of resources and support, be motivational, and have opportunities for reflection and self-assessments. By implementing these strategies, more creation can go to engaging and supporting learning environments that help students stay motivated.

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Engagement:
Having taught food safety training courses for over 20 years, I have found that students learn best through engagement. Bringing real world situations into the classroom allows students to connect theory and practical applications. Most students are enthusiastic and extremely willing to share their personal stories of food safety, allowing for a teaching opportunity. By allowing story telling, it sparks excitement and curiosity for learning. Learning should be multidimensional, incorporating a variety of tools that are interactive, hands on and engaging. When students understand the “why”, it makes the “how” easier. For example, why do we wash our hands? why do we refrigerate certain foods? If students understand why, then they are more likely to be able to understand and perform those practices. in addition, many employees in food service operations are hands on learners. By applying the concepts to real world situations, it makes it easier for this type of learner to understand the importance of food safety.

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A great number of people have a fear of math, don’t like it, and think they can’t learn it. I would begin with activities that support self regulation (9). Activities that promote a growth mindset is key before anything else. Links to videos and documents promoting the ability to learn would be incorporated.
I would then address language and symbols (2). Oftentimes, students might know how to solve a problem but they do not know what the question is asking them, so clarifying vocabulary and symbols (2.1) would be either a section or links hovering over certain words where if students needed the definition, they could just click on the word and the definition would pop up.

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CHECKPOINT 7.2–Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity

Criminology is all around as a social science. Because of this I want students who might take this course as an elective to also understand and draw connections quickly. We can do this by creating activities and bringing in multimedia concepts that relate to Louisiana specifically. In addition, we can create activities that ask students to explore their neighborhoods to integrate criminology in their space.

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Regarding the Engagement area, I would focus on self-assessment and reflection. One of the wonderful tools inherent to digital course materials is that we can easily add reflection and assessments within the text. These items do not even need to be graded but rather allow the student to see what they have learned and push forward.

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Incorporating multiple means of representation is essential in creating an inclusive and effective learning environment, especially in an online course platform like Moodle. This approach aligns with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, which aim to cater to the diverse needs of all learners. Customizing the display of information helps to meet the varied needs of learners by allowing them to interact with content in ways that suit their preferences and needs. Students with visual impairments or those who have difficulty processing visual information benefit from having content available in alternative formats.

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Engagement and representation would be aspects that I would want included in our textbook. Students need to be engaged in the lessons and feel as though they can relate and see themselves represented. Our last Cohort edited a textbook with a Louisiana theme. I would like to edit a textbook with a similar theme. In many of my classes, the students are often engaged in the lessons that are relatable to them. The students begin to discuss their experiences with the subject and often seem to appreciate the representation. These aspects are related to storytelling because I always provide real world events to explain the text which are often seen by students are their story or experience. I feel this allows students to learn from their own experiences while allowing the students to grasp the lesson to be learned from the text.

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CHECKPOINT 2.4: Promote understanding across languages (Representation)
Textbooks typically stick to one language, our classrooms are full of students with different backgrounds. To bridge this gap and help everyone learn, key terms can be explained in English and other languages A glossary with multiple languages and links to online resources in various languages can be linked throughout the book. By offering these supports, we can ensure all students, regardless of their first language, have the opportunity to grasp applied algebra.

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Language and Symbol.
This aspect is very critical for mathematics as a so-called universal language. However, it is not uncommon that a math textbook is focused more on skills or understandings, without explicitly revealing the meta-level tools–language (including vocab and “grammar” or norms etc.) and symbols in math.