Presented at 2:15pm in WB I on Wednesday, November 15, 2017.
#11332Speaker(s)
- Carolyn Speer, Manager, Wichita State University
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: All Levels
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
WSU has agreed to make all instructional materials, including student-created content designed for classroom presentation, accessible by 2020. This presents a massive training challenge that will require buy-in from faculty that are still largely untrained in accessibility. We will discuss the university's plans to make this happen successfully.
Abstract
In July, 2016, WSU entered an agreement with the National Federation of the Blind. The agreement requires that all content "created or used by a WSU department or professor in connection with any WSU course offering" be accessible by 2020. As we began to investigate the scope of the agreement, we realized "all content" includes student-generated content used for in-class presentations including speeches, PowerPoints, videos, and training sessions. This creates a unique challenge on multiple fronts. WSU does not have a process for disseminating professional training to students, and doing so impacts course curriculum and therefore touches on the issue of academic freedom for professors. At this time, the challenges associated with the goal of fully-accessible student content have not been solved, but the Instructional Design and Access office along with Disability Services and the Accessibility Committee are working together to tackle the challenge.
Keypoints
- University content includes student-generated content
- University legal requirements bump up against academic freedom
- Developing university training for students is a challenge without any existing schema
Disability Areas
Topic Areas
Accessible Course Design, Teaching about Accessibility in Curriculum, Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Carolyn Speer
Dr. Carolyn Speer is the Manager of Instructional Design and Access for Wichita State University. With 25 years' experience is higher ed, including over a decade as a full-time faculty member at Friends University, Carolyn represents a faculty perspective and a student-centered approach to issues of access and program design.