Accessibility in classrooms

Potential environmental barriers in your course (3-minute read)

Have you ever tried to open a document on the internet without being able to gain access? Your internet connection is working, your device is up to date, yet you cannot get access to a piece of content that you really would like to consult. It's frustrating, right?

When, we provide documents that are not accessible in our courses, we are excluding users. What can you do about it? You can learn to create and source accessible content for your course, and we are here to help!

In your course, there are two environments to consider: your course and the environment in which your students are learning.

Course environment

Your course environment is made of your pedagogical choices, the instructional technology you are using, and the classroom climate you are fostering. As instructors, there are many variables that we can act on in our course environment to lower the barriers to access. For example, we can:

deliver information in multiple formats
offer students options in how they demonstrate their learning
offer students options in how they engage with the material

Students learning environment

The environment in which your students are learning can vary tremendously and will span from a quiet space with adequate access to the internet, to a space where it is difficult to speak, listen to, or access information due to a variety of external factors such as the presence of others, needs of others, limited internet access, limited bandwidth, etc.

While it is more difficult to control the environment in which your students operate than to control your course environment, if you build your courses with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in mind, you can help make your courses more digitally accessible for all, regardless of your students' learning environment. Learn more by visiting the Universal Design for Learning section of this guide.

Common environmental barriers to access

So concretely, what are environmental barriers to access? Environmental barriers to access are elements in our environments that are preventing individuals from accessing what they need. Barriers can be individuals, institutions, processes, tools, instruments, pathways, etc.

For example, a video without closed captions will not be accessible to someone who cannot hear the content delivered in the video. However, if the video is provided with accurate closed captions, we are lowering the barrier to access since we are providing an alternative way for all students to access the content we seek to deliver.

In addition to lowering a barrier for individuals who cannot hear our content, we are providing extra support to a variety of individuals who can hear but who also benefit from reading the closed captions such as non-native speakers, individuals with learning disabilities, individuals who want to learn the spelling of field specific terms, etc.

Synchronous Class Meetings

When interacting with students in real-time there are several steps you can take to make your meetings both accessible and inclusive. First, ask yourself:

How diverse is my audience?
Can all of my students see, hear, move, speak, and understand equally in my course?
What barriers may they encounter, and how can I lower these barriers?

To help you think through these questions, we have created three checklists:

An important skill to develop to foster an inclusive class climate is to learn how to provide Audio description in synchronous class meetings. This is a valuable skill to have, and maybe one that you will want to encourage your students to develop as well.