Project Description

This project proposes the design and implementation of a Canvas-based professional development course for instructors (including teaching assistants, post-docs, and staff in training roles) focused on Universal Design for Learning and digital accessibility. The need for this course arises from a gap in our current UC training offerings. Advanced technical training is provided to web developers, designers and marketers, and procurement staff through UCOP’s collaboration with SiteImprove. However, many instructors, who often lack coding backgrounds or digital accessibility expertise, are not adequately equipped to ensure their online courses are accessible to students with disabilities. Further, subscriptions to accessibility tools like Blackboard Ally and SensusAccess differ across UC campuses. For instance, UCLA has Blackboard Ally, while UC Davis has SensusAccess.

The proposed course aims to bridge this gap by offering practical, instructor-focused training that demystifies digital accessibility and integrates it with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. UDL is a flexible pedagogical framework based on cognitive neuroscience research that honors learner variability through offering multiple means of representing information (the “what” of learning); choice in action and expression (the “how” of learning); and multiple means of engagement (the “why” of learning). While UDL supports students with disabilities, it benefits all students by foregrounding universal accessibility over circumscribed, compliance-based accommodations.

This program will cover topics such as creating accessible course content, designing for diverse learning modalities and needs, implementing accessible multimedia, and understanding legal compliance and ethical considerations. The course will be scalable and adaptable, making it suitable for integration into various disciplines and teaching contexts within the UC university system.

Funding through this grant will allow for the production of quality instructional videos and ensure that all resources and communications are fully accessible. This includes accurate captioning, audio description of videos, and American Sign Language interpretation. Additionally, funding will allow for us to honor the disability-rights mantra of “Nothing about us without us” by collecting feedback from testers with varying disabilities about the navigability, usability, and accessibility of the course and its resources. 

By cultivating a collaborative learning community and a community of practice around accessibility and UDL through synchronous Zoom meetings, we aim to establish a UCOP resource or affinity group on disability justice and accessibility and a robust anti-ableist task force. We envision participating in UCOP’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day each May and Disability Employment Awareness Month each October.

What does our name mean? A11Y is shorthand used in tech circles for the word accessibility, as there are 11 letters between the A and Y. But A11Y also resembles the word ALLY, which we strive to be through our commitment to inclusion and accessibility.