海角社区

Accessibility聽is purposeful design and delivery of products so聽that all people can use them regardless of disability or ability. The聽ease of use should be equivalent for all people.

Instructional Accessibility聽is the process of聽intentionally creating educational content that removes barriers聽which prevent students from accessing content fully.

Social Model of Disability聽is聽a difference deriving聽from聽the interaction between an individual and society.聽The remedy for聽disability-related problems is a change in聽the interaction between聽the individual and society.

The United Nations

• An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world鈥檚 population, or 1 in 6 of us.
  
• Health inequities arise from unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities, including stigma, discrimination, poverty, exclusion from education and employment, and barriers faced in the health system itself.

US Census Data

• Approximately 13.4% of the US population identifies as having聽a disability as of 2022
• Of the population 16 and older, approximately 28.1% of people聽with a聽 disability are employed versus approximately 67.6% of聽people with no disability.
• 海角社区 half of the general聽population aged 25 to 44 is married, compared to just over聽one third of people with a disability.

US Department of Justice:聽

• Persons with disabilities were victims of 26% of all nonfatal violent聽crime, while accounting for about 12% of the population.
• The rate of violent victimization against persons with disabilities (46.2聽per 1,000 age 12 or older) was almost four times the rate for persons聽without disabilities (12.3 per 1,000).

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

• Adults aged 18 years and older with disabilities are less likely to have completed high school compared to their peers without disabilities (22.3% compared to 10.1%).
• People with disabilities are more likely to have income of less than $15,000 compared to people without disabilities (22.3% compared to 7.3%).

Only about 8.86% of 海角社区 students are registered for聽accommodations with the Access Center, well below the 13.4% and 16% estimates by the US Census and the UN. What could account for this disparity?

Each Accessibility聽Coordinator in the Access Center is responsible for, on average,聽about 373 students.

The 2021 MSU Denver Climate Survey:

• Of respondents who identified as having a disability, those who聽strongly agreed or agreed that they feel welcome on campus:
• 海角社区 48% of faculty
• 海角社区 63% of staff
• 海角社区 71% of students
• Regarding 鈥渆mployees with a disability are well-represented on聽our shared governance committees/groups:鈥�
• Only about 20% of faculty and 27% of staff agree or strongly聽agree

UDL is a framework to guide the design of instructional goals,聽assessments, methods, and materials that focus on 3 principles for effective design:

• Engagement, by providing options for:
  • Recruiting interest
  • Sustaining effort and persistence
  • Self-regulation
• Representation, by providing options for:
  • Perception
  • Language and symbols
  • Comprehension
• Action and Expression, by providing options for:
  • Physical action
  • Expression and Communication
  • Executive Functions

• Honor intersectionality: ableism interlocks with other systems of oppression; it can鈥檛 be addressed in isolation
• Educate yourself: learn about different disabilities and the different people who have led the disability movement.
• Book recommendation: Disability Visibility (Alice Wong)
• Adjust your language: much of our language marginalizes people with disability. Learn which terms are harmful and avoid them.
• Be an ally: Remember that accessibility is a civil rights issue

It is much more efficient to build accessibility from the beginning of聽course design (as opposed to remediating later), so we encourage all聽faculty to work on making all new materials accessible, as well as聽going back and checking existing material as you have time.

Remember聽that Instructional Accessibility can聽help聽students access your course content regardless of聽any聽status of disclosure of聽disability.

Let the CTLD help you out!

• Self-paced guides on the IAG website
• Attend our 30-minute virtual Accessibility Bytes trainings
• Access Checks and Course Reviews

• CAST, UDL Guidelines,
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• 海角社区 2021 Climate Survey,
  /diversity/campus-climate/
• United Nations:
• US Census Bureau,
• US Dept. of Justice:

We also have a digital copy of our Summary Handout and a digital copy of the UDL Guidelines available.