Universal Design for Educational Access

Psychological, physical, mental, social/cultural, medical, and/or learning barriers can make it difficult for our students to achieve course objectives. Such barriers are often invisible to faculty, or only become apparent when the student requests accommodations from SDRC. In many cases, a barrier is a temporary one that students just try to cope with on their own (for example, a student who needs medication for a week or so which makes them groggy). In other cases the student does not have a disability, but there are still learning barriers (the student may not be fluent in English and their professor has an accent, or speaks very quickly, quietly, and/or uses a lot of slang or jargon).

As you read through the ADA Faculty Handbook, you will find that there are many barriers that some of our students with disabilities must deal with on a daily basis, and for each type of barrier (see sections "Teaching Students With..." in ADA Faculty Handbook), you will find a number of things you can do to make the learning experience move from impossible to possible for them. It's very useful to look at each category, particularly when you know you have a student with one or more specific disabilities.

It is perhaps even more useful to think in terms of "Universal Access" principles: creating course content and delivering it in a way that is designed to take all possible barriers into consideration, rather than waiting to see if a student in your class needs special accommodations. You might not succeed in every instance, but you will make it a lot easier for a wide range of students - those with a permanent or temporary sensory or mobility impairment, those who are dealing with a very different social and cultural setting, and those who are simply experiencing the aging process.

It is also important to be aware of the legal requirements for accessibility - for instance, California AB 422 requires that instructional materials be provided in electronic format by publishers that is compatible with Braille translation and speech synthesis software, and do so "in a timely manner." Faculty can help by getting their book orders in as early as possible, by not making last-minute changes in text orders, and preparing their in-class materials with enough lead time to allow for their accessibility to students. As software for students improves to include graphical materials, so will our mandate to use it. The whole university community, not just the SDRC, needs to be proactive in making our course materials as accessible as possible.

Here are some barriers to think about as you are preparing each course and deciding how you will teach it:

• Visual - the student can't see clearly, or at all; experiences visual/perceptual distortions

• Auditory - the student can't hear well, or at all

• Mobility - the student can't move well, or at all, or movement is painful; head, arms, legs, joints; is in a wheelchair

• Oral communication for the student is difficult or impossible

• Reading/writing/math - the student experiences difficulty acquiring and using reading, spelling, writing; reads slowly/inefficiently; writes essays slowly; makes errors in math and writing

• Comprehension - the student has difficulty processing information, taking good notes

• The student has problems concentrating, focusing, is easily distracted; has frequent memory or attention lapses

• Problem solving/abstract reasoning are difficult for the student

• The student experiences fatigue/lack of physical or mental stamina

• Time management/task completion/organization/lateness/meeting deadlines are very difficult for the student

• The student often becomes dizzy/disoriented

• Social/cultural - the student is not a native English speaker; is unfamiliar with U.S. academic norms/values/expectations

• Psychological - the student has a history of abuse or other experiences which can result in traumatic reactions to classroom confrontations or discussions, or emotional subject matter (for assistance, call Counseling and Psychological Services )

Be sure to call upon the experience and expertise of your colleagues in the SDRC, Assistive Technology Coordinator, and the faculty Online & Hybrid Support Center need help making your courses more accessible.