Ensure your teaching materials are saved to your own computer/cloud account.
Make asynchronicity your friend – using asynchronous tools such as emails, Moodle, dropboxes, or discussion boards are often the simplest and most easily accessible tools for ensuring that all students are able to participate.
Ensure that any content you share is easily accessible to all students. - Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Accommodations
Accessible Learning Centre
Providing equitable access to the post-secondary environment
https://www.uleth.ca/accessible-learning-centre
Accommodated students will require recordings and/or transcripts of video and audio lectures so that they can be successful in an on-line environment. We may later add captioning. Fortunately, many platforms have settings to do this automatically, including Zoom, and require minimal work for the user. See: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004794983-Automatically-Transcribe-Cloud-Recordings-
Accessibility
Accessibility of Education - Tool Kit for Educators
When you choose or create teaching materials for your courses, you might want to ensure that all your students can easily access and use those resources. Accessible content meets the requirements of the Alberta Human Rights Act, which "has as its objective the amelioration of the conditions of disadvantaged persons or classes of disadvantaged persons, including those who are disadvantaged because of their race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation".
Creating Accessible Content
Ensuring that the content that we create for online learning is accessible to all is a vital part of presenting material online. There are a few simple steps that can be followed to help ensure that all of your students are able to access/view the material that you are creating for them. Here are a few resources to help you get started:
- Creating Accessible Documents
- Tips for Delivering an Accessible Lecture/ Presentation
- Tips for Teaching an Accessible Online Course
Universal Design for Learning
Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.