Instructional Resources Committee Report on Course Accessibility Miri Chung, Bethany Fleck, Elizabeth Frederick, Laresh Jayasanker, Elizabeth Kleinfeld

Background Spring 2014: Surveyed all Category I, II, and III faculty to measure how confident faculty feel about the accessibility and ADA compliance of their courses and course materials 162 responses (51 Tenured, 40 Tenure Track, 19 Cat II, 52 Affiliate)

Most Significant Findings 31.40% of respondents had never been to a MSU Denver accessibility training – Most frequent training attended was Blackboard = 56.40% 61% of respondents were interested in UDL training 53% of respondents were interested in ADA accessibility training Level of confidence highest for affiliates, lowest for tenured faculty

Most Significant Findings, continued 44 written responses – Basic/easy support needed – Feeling overwhelmed – Lack of resources

What We Did Met with Provost, Michael Erskine (ETC), Greg Sullivan (Access Center), James Lyall (ITS), Jane Chapman Vigil (CFD director) Met with e-Learning Director from Arapahoe Community College and talked to Learning Designer from Front Range Community College Reviewed community college training and support materials Read the Electronic and Technology Accessibility Implementation Plan DRAFT created by the Technology Accessibility Initiative

Summary of Issues 1.Simply making accessibility another faculty responsibility is not practical. 2.The timeline for approving and taking action on the Electronic and Technology Accessibility Implementation Plan DRAFT is much too slow, especially when we are under federal pressure to do something about accessibility. 3.The pressure for us to make courses accessible seems driven by a university fear of litigation, which is terrible motivation for faculty.

Suggestions 1.Speed up approval and enactment of the Electronic and Technology Accessibility Implementation Plan DRAFT. 2.Improve communication with faculty about the Technology Accessibility Initiative. 3.Hire an Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator. 4.The Access Center actively needs to seek opportunities to engage with departments to share their resources.

Suggestions, continued 5.The Access Center and CFD need to share the best practices of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). 6.The Provost should create Faculty Associate positions (with course releases) to help with training and support in each college/school. 7.The Access Center should come out with a policy statement on what exactly constitutes an “accessible” course. Identify 2-3 things that each professor could do to help the greatest number of students and have a focused initiative to achieve these things in ALL classes. 8.Offer a workshop before each semester begins to teach faculty basics about making courses accessible & ADA compliant. Have the course be available online and in person.