Learning Material Accessibility & Availability The creation and production of academic materials for universal access by students of all learning styles through digital, audio, and enlarged print media while accommodating a diversity of access methods Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)

Issue: Students having access to all course/instructional materials at the same time (i.e., textbooks, course-packs) Partial Solution: Knowing what the instructional materials are with sufficient advance notice so materials can be converted to an accessible format (i.e., audio, large print, Braille)

Pros of a Deadline Encreases liklihood of successfully creating accessible instructional materials Increases liklihood that all students will have textbooks in a timley fashion Bookstore able to reimburse students a higher rate for used books Demonstrate effort made toward meeting Executive Order requirements

Cons of a Deadline Faculty need to identify instructional materials by a specific date Concern about being able to select, add, improvise instructional materials with short notice New courses/late hires

For Consideration Instructional materials include textbooks, course- packs, hand-outs, etc. However, the most difficult and time consuming conversion are textbooks If the majority of textbooks needing conversion are identified in a timely manner, coping with last-minute requests is more easily responded to

There is no expectation of a prohibition or limitation to adding instructional materials at any time during the quarter; But there is an expectation that those materials will be made available in an accessible format if needed in a timely fashion

How can this happen? Loading materials onto Blackboard allow students direct access without the need for conversion (if loaded appropriately) Once all textbooks are converted, the DRC can more easily respond to new requests