If you already have a student with a documented disability with the Office of Disability Services, please consider their unique learning needs as you adapt to a virtual classroom. However, twenty-five percent of the population has some form of physical, learning, or cognitive disability so you may have a student with a need and you are unaware of it. A virtual classroom environment may create learning challenges for students who may not have those challenges in a face-to-face environment. COLRS has accessibility resources and a searchable accessibility blog that provides guidance on improving the accessibility of digital content.
As you prepare your course for teaching remotely, here are some basic accessibility tips
- If you have the choice between sharing a Word document and a PDF, choose Word.
- If you have the choice between sharing a PowerPoint and a PDF, choose PowerPoint.
- If you are creating new Word or PowerPoint files open the accessibility checker. You can then see if there are any issues, see directions on how to correct the issues, and correct them as you go.
- If you are creating a video, speak slowly and keep the video short. Speaking slowly can improve the accuracy of the auto captioning in Kaltura. Directions on how to correct Kaltura captions.
For additional assistance in improving the accessibility of your virtual classroom, please contact the COLRS Campus Accessibility Specialist. The Digital Accessibility Remediation Team is able to help you make your digital content accessible remotely.
Finally, UIS employees and students are able to download and use JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion for free on their home computer through June 30. These products provide screen reading, screen magnification, and/or visual enhancement capabilities.