Partnering with the Instructional Design & Development Team to Promote Accessible Instruction Candida Darling, Disability Resource Center Director Paula Michniewicz, Instructional Designer Robert Lindsay, Assistant Director of Instructional Design & Media Services Salt Lake Community College

Presentation Outline SLCC background/overview of journey Guided small group discussion with opportunities to discuss/brainstorm Leave with strategies for building partnerships at your institution to implement system-wide change

SLCC background Over 60,000 students 10 campuses throughout Salt Lake County 1:20 faculty to student ratio 75% of instructors are adjunct Emphasizing elearning: flipped classroom, hybrid, online

Universal Access Committee Executive cabinet established a standing committee in members (designated by VP of Student Services) Key administrators Faculty Staff Student leadership Emphasizes cross-college collaboration and shared responsibility

Universal Access Work Groups ADA policy Accessible instruction Accessible technology Physical access Universal access study SLCC transition plan

Universal Access Study Survey distributed to all SLCC employees in March responses – 129 Faculty – 212 Staff – 25 Administrators

Faculty Results 25% check their web content for accessibility 32% check readings they assign for accessibility 28% know where to find resources for creating accessible instructional materials 23% feel adequately trained to make technology accessible

Shared Responsibility It’s not just one office or department Discussions with Director of eLearning and an internship led to the re-design of the DRC website (after a faculty poll) Faculty wanted Just-In-Time resources

eLearning Team With the help of the DRC, the eLearning team committed to the principles of UDL (summer 2013) – All new online courses will be accessible – When existing online courses are revised, we will make them accessible – A hope to have authority to audit and update all courses in the future

eLearning Team Created its own committee to define accessibility standards for online courses Published a style guide for the team Partnered with a transcription service Held a series of brown-bag sessions to train the entire eLearning team All new team members are taught UDL principles

Other eLearning Teams Our commitment to UDL is not shared by instructional design teams at our sister institutions. They believe: – UDL is overkill – Accommodation should only occur when requested, which is rare – Students with disabilities usually choose not to take online courses, so there’s no need to design for their needs

Instructional Designer View The eLearning Director asked us to create UDL best practices for instructional designers and media developers.

The UDL Perspective If we follow UDL principles from the beginning to create instruction, then we won’t have to alter courses for individual accommodations.

ID/MD best practices categories (#1) 1. Headings in Canvas pages

Best Practices #2 2. Use styles in Word docs and PowerPoint presentations - headings - paragraphs - tables If formatted correctly, then conversion to a PDF is no problem

Best Practices #3 3. Use alt tags with images

Best Practices #4 4. Video Captions

Principles of UDL Multiple means of presentation Multiple means of engagement Multiple means of expression

Collaborations (DRC, eLRN & faculty) Tutorials created by intern Re-design of faculty section of DRC website UDL videos for faculty UDL panel discussions UDL series (captioning, STEM, etc.) FTLC 1000 module

Future Collaborations English department self-assessment of online courses using a checklist Teaching circle eLearning strategic plan

Small Group Time Identify current and potential partners Who can help you give more exposure to faculty? Who has influence with faculty? – Are they a “champion” on campus (i.e. a faculty member that you can pull in)?

Come Back Together to Share

Small Group Again How would you start a conversation with any of these people/groups/departments? What questions would you ask? What can you do for them? What can you do with them?

Come Back Together to Share

DRC/eLRN Similarities We both focus on improving the quality of instruction (using UDL and ID principles) to help students learn better (DRC sees ID as part of UA, and eLearning sees UA as a part of ID). We provide services to faculty who aren't always aware that we can help them. The true target audience of our services is the students, not the faculty.

DRC/eLRN Similarities We find it challenging to advertise our services to faculty. Some faculty perceive us as outsiders because we speak a lingo that is different from their lingo. Our solutions often involve technology (assistive technology, online technology). We try to teach faculty "to fish" but some see these requirements as unnecessary, costly, extra work.

Wrap-up and Reflection "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!" - William Murray

Contact Information Candida Darling, Disability Resource Center Director – Paula Michniewicz, Instructional Designer – Robert Lindsay, Assistant Director of Instructional Design & Media Services –