[Athen] ONE IT accessibility recommendation for faculty

[Sheryl E. Burgstahler]

Many of us are faced with helping faculty move courses online without much knowledge about that and NO knowledge of accessible IT practices. They could easily become overwhelmed, but it would be great to help them at least apply a few accessible IT practices in order to improve experiences for students with disabilities AND reduce the proliferation of tons of inaccessible courses that burden disability services offices with requests for accommodations.

What is ONE of your best recommendations for faculty moving quickly online who do NOT yet know much if anything about accessibility?

Mine? Avoid creating PDF documents. Use HTML (e.g., placing content within learning management system content pages). If you want a printable version (e. g., for a syllabus), attach a Word or PDF document as a SECONDARY way to access the content.

Sheryl
Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Director, UW Accessible Technology & DO-IT, UW-IT
Affiliate Professor, Education
University of Washington, Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195
206-543-0622          FAX 206-221-4171
http://staff.washington.edu/sherylb
sherylb at uw.edu