Many instructors wait until a student requests accommodation to think about the accessibility of their course. The concept of Universal Design for Learning indicates that accessibility needs should be considered in the course design and development process, prior to any requests being made by students.
Universal Design for Learning is a set of guidelines developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). CAST's goal is to "bust the barriers to learning that millions of people experience every day." CAST used scientific data on how humans learn to develop a set of UDL Guidelines that can be used to better inform, improve, and optimize the teaching and learning experience for all learners in all disciplines.
UDL Guidelines are split into three major categories that cover the why, how, and what of learning: Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression.
| Provide multiple means of Engagement | Provide multiple means of Representation | Provide multiple means of Action & Expression | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Access |
Provide options for Recruiting Interest | Provide options for Perception | Provide options for Physical Action |
|
Build |
Provide options for Sustaining Effort & Persistence | Provide options for Language & Symbols | Provide options for Expression & Communication |
|
Internalize |
Provide options for Self Regulation | Provide options for Comprehension | Provide options for Executive Functions |
|
Goal |
Expert learners who are Purposeful & Motivated | Expert learners who are Resourceful & Knowledgeable | Expert learners who are Strategic & Goal-Directed |
Learn more about the UDL Guidelines and individual checkpoints.
Alt Text is a text description that accompanies images in online environments, providing a textual alternative to non-text content in webpages. These descriptions can be used with screen readers and text-to-speech applications for users with visual impairments. They are especially important for ensuring that images can be used by people with various disabilities.
It might seem intuitive to describe images by writing alt text such as "image of a clock," "screenshot of a computer desktop," or "visual of a person laughing." Best practice, however, is not to include phrases like "image of," "screenshot of," "visual of," etc. Instead, it is better to write a description about what information on the image is intended to communicate, i.e., "wooden clock about to strike midnight," "computer screen showing a blank Microsoft Word document," or "woman in her mid-forties with brown hair laughing in a park."
The Web Accessibility Initiative provides a useful set of categories for thinking about the different images in your digital content and what kinds of alt text would best help those images. The CTRL has summarized these categories from their website into a useful document, which can be downloaded below. For the original article, visit the Web Accessibility Initiative's website.