Accommodating Students with Disabilities in Online Courses Presenter: David Wood All Rights Reserved by David Wood

What would you do if? Have you ever had a student with a disability enroll in one of your courses? How did you accommodate the student? What resources were available to you? What will you do when you do have a student with a disability taking your course?

Types of Disabilities Blind and/or Deaf Paralysis, Mobility Impaired Learning Disabilities (ADHD, Dyslexia) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Recent events: war (returning vets), motorcycle wrecks

Assistive Technology Overview JAWS Screen Reader, NVDA (FREE!) MAGic Screen Magnifier OpenBook, Kurzweil 1000 WYNN, Kurzweil 3000 Dragon Naturally Speaking Track Balls, Puffer Switches, Eye Gaze

JAW Screen Reader

MAGic Screen Magnifier

OpenBook Scan/Read (For Blind)

WYNN Scan/Read (For LD)

Advantages of Distance Learning Education from the comfort of your home No need for blind to arrange transportation More comfortable for persons with PTSD

Accessibility vs. Usability Accessibility: Able to access all content and services. (alt tags, color blind, closed captioning, transcripts, etc.) Usability: Easy to learn, quick to use, easy to navigate.

Example of a GOOD website

Example of a W3C Validation (Good)

Example of a BAD website

Example of a W3C Validation (Bad)

Accessibility Tools and Standards World Wide Web Consortium ( Universal Design ( Quality Matters, Section 8 ( Checklist / Template for Text Documents

Microsoft Word 2010 Accessibility Checker Latest version has an accessibility checker. File > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility May have issues if saved with older version. Try copy and paste into a new file. Always use headings and styles.

Accessible Text Documents Accessible Text Template Workable Template for creating alternative text formats This is a workable accessible text template that has been created for making documents more accessible. Research has found that by using headings and the different font types and sizes provided in the template students with disabilities can better access the content of the document. This template is to be used when converting documents, such as Word documents, into an alternative format for students with disabilities. Note: All relevant graphics and pictures should be given a text description (when possible) so that non sighted students using screen readers will have access to the information in text format. Main Title [ H1, Veranda, 18 ] Subtitle [ H2, Veranda, 16 ] Subject [ H3, Veranda, 14 ] Content [ Normal, Times New roman, 12 ]

Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Accessibility Checker Always create an outline and use notes section. JAWS users CTRL + SHIFT + N Latest version has an accessibility checker. File > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility May have issues if saved with older version. Try copy and paste into a new file.

Adobe Acrobat Pro (Access Report)

Closed Captioning and Transcripts Used by persons who are blind or deaf Costly and time consuming Most YouTube videos do not have CC TV and Internet have different formats DIY (ex. Camtasia) vs. Paying for service Automatic Sync:

Camtasia Studio

Edit video, add captions and zoom-ins

Math and Accessibility Difficult to accommodate for screen readers Math Markup Language (MathML) Firefox has a free editor, FireMath Not Accessible: Accessible (with alt tag): alt=“X equals negative b, plus or minus the square root of B squared minus four times A times C all divided by two times A” MathType by Design Science:

Firefox Firemath (Add On)

Use of Social Networking Sites Good for connecting with students Comfortable for students with PTSD However, not necessarily accessible Chat programs especially difficult for blind Twitter access:

Discussion & Feedback What information did you find most useful? How will you use this information? Do you feel you are prepared? What challenges do you need help with?

Thank You! Any Questions? David R. Wood Office: Web: online.dcccd.edu