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Hey #MedTwitter #ScienceTwitter - Let’s make our (online) courses accessible, eh?
A ~collab~ thread by @jesscampanile (1st Auth) and me *Disclaimers at end*
A ~collab~ thread by @jesscampanile (1st Auth) and me *Disclaimers at end*
Jessica is a FANTASTIC post-bac student at Johns Hopkins that wrote a thesis on disability in premedical and medical education. Follow her.
I'm your regular host. Both of us have ample experience being disabled in classrooms.
I'm your regular host. Both of us have ample experience being disabled in classrooms.
Please feel free to reply with questions, thoughts, experiences, and resources! For this to really be useful, we need everyone’s buy-in. Let’s get started, shall we?
The goal: Making access a constant, dynamic goal, not just a legal requirement or box to check – going *beyond compliance* to show students with disabilities that they are welcome and have the same rights to the classroom and laboratory space as everyone else.
Most of our professors mean well, but they don’t have the training or resources to prevent their courses from being ableist. We have the ability to change that with KNOWLEDGE. Let’s dive in…
Your syllabus is the first time your students meet you.
Many schools require statements in syllabi about equal access that detail the relevant contacts for accommodations. In our experience, these copy-pasted statements do little to make us feel welcome.
Many schools require statements in syllabi about equal access that detail the relevant contacts for accommodations. In our experience, these copy-pasted statements do little to make us feel welcome.
Consider going beyond boilerplate messaging and acknowledge the diversity of students who may receive accommodations–mention those with chronic health conditions, mental health concerns, and others who can also benefit from accessibility services but may not identify as disabled.
Documents, especially from print resources like scans of books, are often inaccessible for students who use text-to-speech tools or otherwise need accommodation to process visual information.
SensusAccess, http://sensusaccess.com , allows for file conversion to a variety of formats, including audiobooks and even digital Braille.
Many institutions have licenses for this software – and if your school doesn’t, we recommend asking why.
Many institutions have licenses for this software – and if your school doesn’t, we recommend asking why.
Captioning is key for students who need accommodation accessing auditory information, but can also be universally beneficial for all students. Two of the many options are:
WebCaptioner, http://webcaptioner.com , allows for real-time captioning of live office hours or class sessions, while Rev, http://rev.com can caption videos and transcribe anything from lectures to qualitative research interviews.
Accessibility information for commonly-used @Microsoft products, like Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and Teams, can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/accessibility-video-training-71572a1d-5656-4e01-8fce-53e35c3caaf4.
As we all go on this learning journey together, consider setting an example for your students by teaching them how to make accessible spreadsheets and graphs, or requiring powerpoint presentations to include accessibility measures like image descriptions.
Teaching future doctors, academics, and citizens of the world that accessibility matters from day 1 will make a world of difference for their future colleagues and mentees.
Much to our constant chagrin, @Microsoft’s equation editor is not accessible for people who use screen readers. Here’s a guide on how to use MATHML instead: https://ati.gmu.edu/caresguide/creating-accessible-stem-content-2/
Using @Slack for your course? They have written about how to think as an engineer: https://slack.engineering/how-to-fail-at-accessibility/
They also have a great guide on keyboard accessibility for users: https://slack.com/help/articles/115003340723-Keyboard-accessibility-in-Slack-
And one on using screenreaders: https://slack.com/help/articles/360000411963-Use-a-screen-reader-with-Slack-on-desktop
Blackboard as a site is dedicated to accessibility, however it is up to course creators *Y'ALL* in Blackboard to adhere to their accessibility suggestions. Read more: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Administrator/Hosting/Accessibility/Accessibility_Features
Universal design, which prioritizes access for all, is important in all spaces, but is often lacking in science labs. We recommend reading the below thread from our friend to learn more. https://twitter.com/DeathCab4Callie/status/1287073121355337728?s=20
Here’s a great article on how to make science labs more accessible: https://www.washington.edu/doit/making-science-labs-accessible-students-disabilities
If you haven’t sent around to your academic friends or bookmarked for later use...why not?
We’ve focused a lot on practical aspects of our classrooms and courses, but we’d be remiss not to mention language. While we’ve both written and spoken about this before, and encourage you to continue learning, here’s a great article on the subject https://www.autistichoya.com/p/ableist-words-and-terms-to-avoid.html
Disclaimer: We are not legal experts, tech experts, or accessibility professionals. We are simply disabled students who advocate for our community and have learned this information via lived experience, conversation with other disabled students, and the internet.
On a personal note, it means the world to me to see so many professors committing to do better.
So many disabled students want nothing more than to learn.
So many disabled students want nothing more than to learn.
