About the Workshop
This online workshop provides an in-depth introduction to accessibility and Universal Design in Learning (UDL) for online and hybrid education. We will review the principles of UDL, examine best accessibility practices in Blackboard, and then get hands-on practice creating accessible documents and multimedia. In applying the skills acquired in this workshop to course design and your teaching, you will create an online experience that is welcoming to all learners, including those with disabilities.
Participants completing this workshop will:
- Learn about how applying UDL principles in your teaching can improve your online classroom
- Develop and practice the skills needed to create and check accessible documents, and practice them
- Evaluate multimedia and publishers’ materials for accessibility
- Learn how to add captions to video files
Workshop Requirements:
This workshop is focused on participant engagement, and extensive feedback from facilitators, and there are no grades. Instead, all activities will be marked complete/not complete, viewable under “My Grades” on Blackboard. Points earned for optional quizzes will not count toward completion of the workshop.
To receive a certificate of completion for this workshop, participants will need to complete each lesson activity listed on the workshop schedule.
Topics Overview
Topic 1: Accessibility and UDL
Learning Objectives
- Learn about disabilities, accommodations, and disability etiquette
- Define Universal Design in Learning (UDL)
- Understand the difference between UDL and accommodations
Activities
- Introduce yourself on the Introductions VoiceThread
- Review information about different types of disabilities and barriers
- Review CUNY resources on disabilities services and accommodations
- Review disability etiquette guides
- Reflect on the readings and videos on the Topic 1 Discussion forum
- Optional: Take the #NoMouse Challenge!
- Optional: Test your knowledge by completing the Topic 1 Review Quiz
Topic 2: Principles of UDL & Your Teaching
Learning Objectives
- Learn the guidelines and principles of Universal Design in Learning (UDL)
- Examine the relationship between UDL and student diversity
- Reflect on applying the principles of accessibility and UDL to teaching and learning
Activities
- Review UDL guidelines
- Review different ways of implementing UDL principles in teaching and learning
- Reflect on applying UDL to your teaching practice and post your UDL plan on the Topic 2 discussion forum
- Optional: Test your knowledge by completing the Topic 2 Review Quiz
Topic 3: Blackboard Accessibility
Learning Objectives
- Understand how accessible Blackboard as a platform is for different users
- Learn which accessibility features are available to you through Blackboard
- Practice ways through which you can make your Blackboard course accessible to all
Activities
- Review information about Blackboard accessibility
- Review quick guide and checklist on making materials posted on Blackboard accessible to all
- Practice providing accommodations to students in Blackboard
- Reflect on the readings and videos on the Topic 3 discussion forum
- Optional: Test your knowledge by completing the Topic 3 Review Quiz
Topic 4: Accessible Documents I: Word, Excel, and PPT
Learning Objectives
- Learn how to create accessible Office documents
- Use the Accessibility Checker to evaluate your documents
Activities
- Review the guides and tutorials on how to create accessible Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents
- Create two accessible documents, and use the built-in accessibility checker to evaluate them.
- Discussion: Post the accessible documents you created and a reflection.
- Optional: Use a screen reader to check your accessible document and post a reflection.
- Optional: Test your knowledge by completing the Topic 4 Review Quiz
- Optional: Attend Live Support Session on Tuesday
Topic 5: Accessible Documents II: PDF
Learning Objectives
- Learn different ways of creating an accessible PDF document
- Learn to check an existing PDF for accessibility
Activities
- Review the guide and tutorial on how to create accessible PDFs
- Locate an available OCR scanner
- Optional: Run OCR and add tags to a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro
- Practice creating an accessible PDF and use the accessibility checker
- Discussion: Post your accessible PDF and a reflection
- Optional: Test your knowledge by completing the Topic 5 Review Quiz
- Optional: Review instructions on how to create accessible fillable forms
Topic 6: Multimedia/ Materials from Publishers
Learning Objectives
- Understand accessibility features of multimedia teaching tools
- Learn to create captions for videos on YouTube
- Learn to evaluate publishers’ teaching tools for accessibility
- Reflect on your learning experience in this workshop
Activities
- Review guidelines for accessible media in teaching and learning
- Review multimedia tools available in Blackboard for accessibility
- Practice adding captions to a video in YouTube
- Complete your UDL Plan for future courses
- Reflect on your workshop experience
- Optional: Test your knowledge by completing the Topic 6 Review Quiz