Building Accessible Online Courses

Name: Building Accessible Online Courses
Rating: 4.0 (53 reviews)

Making online courses more approachable

Created byBlake Anneberg

Last updated 2/2018

English

What you'll learn

Build web accessibility standards into their course.
Build a more user friendly course from the start or improve an existing course.

Course content

6 sections • 20 lectures • 46m total length

Welcome1:42

If you have suggestions on how I can improve the accessibility for this course, or if you find a particular aspect of the course or activity problematic from an accessibility perspective, then please let me know at via the Question and Answer (Q&A) feature of this course.
Pre Survey

Inaccessible education technology creates anxiety0:56
Not knowing how to use technology or not being able to use technology creates anxiety.
People who do not master the use of the technology, especially older people, suffer from low self-esteem and low self-efficacy, once again impacting on independence.
Web Accessibility Standards2:56
Advocating to design your course with Accessibility in mind.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0
Web Accessibility
Creating a course and making sure it is is compliant1:55
Designing the course to be compatible with a person's assistive technology.
Making sure the course platform of your course is accessible.

Universal design for learning4:44
Designing a syllabus with Universal design for learning.
Universal Design for learning
Creating a accessibility friendly course from the start
Course and syllabus Actionable Tips8:43
What syllabus and the course documents can be done for accessibility.
Augmenting course materials
Accessibility policy for your course.
Course and syllabus Actionable Tips
Online vs offline courses7:02
Learning environments: the in-person classroom, and the online space.
Institutional readiness tips.
Accessibility features in both kinds of learning environments.
Offline vs online courses.
Reinforce that students are life long learners1:30
Use visual clues to reinforce a growth mindset, and assist with time management.
Keeping connected to your students1:28
Use technology to keep connected.
Reinforce good study skills in your communication
Keeping connected with your students
Outro for Section 2 and Additional Links0:32
Further Resources:

edX accessibility policy and edX documentation
https://www.edx.org/accessibility
5.1. What Is The EdX Accessibility Best Practices Guidance Based On?:
https://edx.readthedocs.io/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/accessibility/edX_accessib_guidelines.html
5.2. Supporting Learners with Diverse Needs :
https://edx.readthedocs.io/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/accessibility/supporting_learners_diverse_needs.html
5.3. Accessibility Best Practices for Developing Course Content:
https://edx.readthedocs.io/projects/edx-partner-course-staff/en/latest/accessibility/best_practices_course_content_dev.html
Coursera
Accommodations for learners with disabilities
Accessibility Policies
Udacity
https://www.udacity.com/course/web-accessibility--ud891
Udemy
https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229605428-Adding-Captions-to-Your-Videos
Edinburgh University
http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/accessibility/creating-materials/accessiblewebwikiblogs
http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/accessibility/creating-materials

Stanford
https://soap.stanford.edu/getting-started/why-accessibility-matters

Google
https://webaccessibility.withgoogle.com/resources

Large walls of text are painful1:00
Try to avoid large paragraphs.
Accessibility for documents and PDFs2:28
Try not to use PDF's.
Use lists and hierarchical headers in plain test instead.
Accessibility for documents and PDF's
Images2:22
Use alternative text to describe images.
But also use pictures to communicate what you are trying to convey.
Images
Presentation of Audio Video Content2:06
Make videos modular with one topic or subject per video.
Always have interactive transcripts or subtitles.
Audio and video content
Use gestural methods and movement1:28
Learning can happen though movement.
Gestural methods and movement

Test for Accessibility0:56
Examine a range of assistive tech and tools for dyslexic individuals.
Test for Accessibility
User Testing2:22
User test your course with dyslexic individuals.
User Testing
Outro for Section 30:02
Further Resources:

Online Courses
https://www.edx.org/course/design-development-educational-mitx-11-132x-1
https://www.edx.org/course/implementation-evaluation-educational-mitx-11-133x-0
https://www.edx.org/course/instructional-design-technology-learning-usmx-umuc-ldt100x
https://www.edx.org/course/information-communication-technology-ict-gtx-ict100x
https://www.edx.org/course/teaching-technology-inquiry-open-course-university-torontox-inq101x-0
https://www.edx.org/course/analytics-classroom-teacher-curtinx-edu1x-0
https://www.edx.org/course/blended-learning-edx-edx-blendedx-1
https://learner.coursera.help/hc/en-us/articles/209818883-Coursera-s-accessibility-policy
https://learner.coursera.help/hc/en-us/articles/208280056-Accommodations-for-learners-with-disabilities
Articles
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
http://faithformation4-0.com/m3-the-consulting-firm/distributive-learning-tools/creating-accessible-online-courses
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/1/ada-compliance-for-online-course-design
https://help.blackboard.com/Accessibility/Design_Accessible_Content
http://blog.blackboard.com/6-great-accessibility-resources-for-improving-your-online-course-offerings/
http://www.3playmedia.com/2013/03/21/distance-learning-online-accessibility-what-faculty-disabilities-want-institutions-know/
https://dyslexiaida.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DITC-Handbook.pdf
Dyslexia
www.Understood.org
https://www.coursera.org/learn/dyslexia-difficulties
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/dyslexia

Conclusion1:55
Developing an accessibility plan.
Strive to deliver an accessible product from Day 1.
Conculsion
One more thing: Ask Questions via Q&A feature and I will Answer0:19
The Question and Answer section that is clickable on the main dashboard and within the videos is a great place for me to interact with you. I will be closely following the Q&A section, and I will be taking your input to make this course better. If you have any questions or comments please ask a question!

Requirements

Helpful prerequisite: Have had experience in developing one or two online courses.
Helpful prerequisite: Have knowledge of using Learning Management System found on Udemy or edX Studio.
Helpful prerequisite: Have authored content using software and technology (text, image, audio, video, basic web development).

Description

Hello!

From the first time I learned about the Open Educational Resources movement, I knew I wanted to share ways to make online courses more accessible and more approachable for students and online course developers. I also want to advocate more and shape this new technology and strategy for education, marketing and lifelong learning for the common good. This course is a volunteer effort on my part and I hope to updated it with feedback (particularly with real world how to videos). Please be patient on the updates and improvements with this FREE course.

Please use the Q&A section so we can share best practices. Also, I am interested in what your experiences in taking online are. If you have suggestions on how to improve the accessibility for this course, or if you find a particular aspect of the course or activity problematic from an accessibility perspective, then please let me know at via the Question and Answer (Q&A) feature of this course.

A bit about me: I have been taking online courses since 2013 on edX, FutureLearn, Coursera, Udemy and TeamTreehouse for web design and coding. Also, I assisted a nonprofit to create three online courses used around the world. Finally, I also developed Confident Dyslexic App that uses Android accessibility settings. It has over 5,000 Android downloads around the world. I like helping people and making digital education more open.

I look forward to starting this journey with you and please let me know what you think of this course.

-Blake

Who this course is for:

Online course developers who want a introduction accessibility and Universal Design Learning.
Small online course developer teams that are developing courses.
Freelance course creators who want to make online course, but have to fulfill many roles to have a better product.

Building Accessible Online Courses

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 2min

Why build accessible online courses?3 lectures • 6min

The foundation of your course is in good design6 lectures • 24min

Technical Aspects of Accessibility5 lectures • 9min

How to test for accessibility?3 lectures • 3min

Conclusion2 lectures • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: