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º£½ÇÉçÇø is striving to build inclusive and accessible digital spaces, and the Instructional Accessibility Group (IAG) is here to support faculty. As one of the teams within the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design, the IAG provides live virtual trainings, guides on implementing accessibility, and Access Checks to check course content accessibility. Continue your accessibility work beyond the Digital Accessibility Made Simple training.

• Visit the IAG Home Page to start or continue your proactive accessibility journey.
• Check out our Trainings and Services page for information on our 30-minute Accessibility Bytes virtual training series and Access Check services for course materials.
  • Bytes topics include Documents, Canvas, Image Description, PowerPoint, and Canva.
  • MegaByte Working Sessions: departments or groups of faculty can schedule a 90-120 minute accessibility working session, with or without training included.
  • Faculty (both part- and full-time) can request Access Checks for part of their course. The IAG investigates and provides a report, with optional additional support.
• For accessibility improvements a few minutes at a time, visit the Quick Tips page.
• Email the IAG with questions and to schedule a visit at your department meeting.
• Faculty should be familiar with the º£½ÇÉçÇø Digital Accessibility Policy.

Accessibility refers to proactively removing as many barriers as possible to provide inclusive experiences for a wide range of disabilities and abilities. In education, this often means designing spaces and courses so that as many students can be included and have equitable access to materials as possible, including digital spaces and materials. By proactively designing education to be accessible, faculty reduce the need for individual accommodations.

Accommodations are individual solutions to individual access barriers and are a reactive response to something that is inaccessible for that person. Generally, accommodations are for specialized adaptations that cannot be standardized. Accommodations are a secondary step to providing an equitable education for all.

As an example, accessibility includes faculty members ensuring all media includes captions and/or transcripts for all students. An accommodation might include the Access Center providing an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter for all classes for a student. So accessibility lies with the instructor, and accommodations with the Access Center.

The IAG loves to visit departments! We would be happy to visit a department meeting to discuss who we are and what we do or to open discussions on addressing accessibility barriers within your subject.

Don’t see a training topic on our Bytes list? We have provided both virtual and in-person custom trainings to departments; email us to start discussing if we can provide a custom training opportunity for your department. We are also offering Accessibility MegaByte Working Sessions, bookable by departments or small groups of faculty (5+). MegaBytes are 90-120 minute accessibility working sessions, with or without training included, with at least one Instructional Accessibility Specialist in the room for immediate assistance.