Accessibility
Why it matters
As instructors, we have legal and ethical obligations to ensure our courses are fully accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. We use digital resources in our courses because we believe they enhance learning. However, unless carefully chosen with accessibility in mind, these resources can have the opposite effect for students with disabilities, erecting daunting barriers that make learning difficult or impossible.
Accessibility Trainings
For trainings and information about accessibility:
- Accessibility in Canvas from Butte: Technology Mediated Instruction
- Accessibility Walkthrough from Butte: Accessible Learning Resources
- Trainings from the CCC Accessibility Center
- Self-paced accesibility courses
- Facilitated accessibility course from @ONE
Accessibility Checklist
This Accessibility Checklist provides a list of accessibility requirements. The links in the checklist also take you to an Accessibilty Walkthrough that explains the most common accessiblity considerations.
Accessibility Checkers
WAVE - for online content
The Wave Tool by Webaim checks accessibility of web pages. You can also download a free extension for Chrome and Firefox. Learn more about how to use the WAVE tool on the Webaim site. Or, watch this video for an Introduction to WAVE The WAVE tool can be used to check almost all online resources.
Canvas
The Accessibility Dashboard is an add-on tool in Canvas. It provides instructors insight into a wide range of accessibility issues in their course content, as well as easy access to quick fixes and helpful information. Learn more about the Accessibility Dashboard for Canvas.
Microsoft and Adobe
Microsoft products (including Word and Ppt) have built in accessibility Checkers. This page gives an brief overview of the Microsoft Accessibility Checker. Adobe Acrobat also has a built-in accessibility checker. This page gives a brief overview of the Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Checker.
WCAG 2.1
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, provide an international standard that defines accessibility of web-based resources. The principles of WCAG 2.0 are applicable to other digital assets as well, including software, video, and digital documents. These are the standards that all federaly funded institutions (like our college) are required to use.
