[Athen] The accessibility issues nobody's discussing

[Erik Ferguson]

Thanks so much Debee. I know you are frustrated and struggling somewhat but
I don't find these posts to be rants. I think your concerns are articulate,
valid and wide spread. Thank you for the permission to forward. I plan to
do so.

Best Regards,
Erik

On Fri, May 8, 2020 at 9:18 AM Travis Roth <travis at travisroth.com> wrote:


> Hi Debee,

>

> You have a lot of interesting points.

>

> Juggling two screens is hard.

>

> As for your Zoom audio and handout issue, there is a solution for this

> one. At least on Windows. You can go into Zoom Settings find keyboard, and

> in here find keyboard shortcuts for actions including Mute/Unmute my audio.

> By default it is Alt+a and is not a global shortcut, and here is the key.

> There is a checkbox to make a keystroke global, so when this is on and you

> are in a meeting you can mute/unmute the audio without switching to the

> actual Zoom meeting window.

>

>

>

> Travis

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *Deborah Armstrong

> *Sent:* Friday, May 8, 2020 10:52 AM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* [Athen] The accessibility issues nobody's discussing

>

>

>

> ****Rant Mode on ******

>

>

>

>

>

> As I take my Spanish class and talk with students using online platforms,

> there are a few accessibility issues that keep coming up. I see all sorts

> of training a bout equity and preventing racism, but what about people who

> can’t work in a synchronous class as fast as able-bodied folk? I think we

> are being ignored in all this talk of equity!

>

>

>

> Issue No. 1: shared screens. It’s obvious that it’s a problem for people

> like me who use screen readers, but traditional online classes don’t use

> this feature so much. In a traditional online class, the instructor

> typically has slides, videos and handouts that a student can download and

> study ahead of time. So when class is in session, even when it is

> synchronous, the student has the slides-handout-whatever to look at

> separate from the zoom window. And it is assumed they studied this material.

>

>

>

> In my Spanish class and in many other courses where the instructor is more

> comfortable with face-to-face instruction, much of the in-class effort

> revolves around a shared screen. The instructor plays a video that’s not

> available to download. Or he puts a handout up onscreen for the class to

> discuss together, and of course it isn’t offered anywhere else. Or, my

> Spanish teacher flips through all the handouts she’s got on her PC ,

> randomly putting one up onscreen for us to discuss together. I keep telling

> her I need to know ahead of time, so now she tells me about two minutes

> before the handout is displayed. Then I have to frantically scramble

> through my email where she’s helpfully attached the file 15 seconds ago,

> open the attachment and find where she’s pointing in her shared screen!

>

>

>

> Shared screens aren’t accessible to me, but even when I have the handout

> in another window, I have a problem shared by many of our students. And for

> many it causes great anxiety. Luckily I take courses for personal

> enrichment but if I was depending on a good grade, I’d have anxiety too!

>

>

>

> You have to look at the material, then flip back to the zoom window, find

> the mute/unmute button, press it, make your aural contribution, remute

> yourself, flip back to the handout – it’s exhausting! And if the instructor

> calls on you, you have to unmute, find the passage he’s referring to, make

> your comment, re-mute, and do it all with everyone waiting!

>

>

>

> This just doesn’t happen in traditional online classes where it’s expected

> you’ve reviewed this material before and won’t have to constantly look at

> it while discussing it. I know, I’ve taken a ton of online classes.

>

>

>

> So can you remind instructors that having to keep multiple windows open

> and flip back and forth constantly muting and unmuting while trying to

> concentrate on the learning is nerve-wracking! It’s not just my problem,

> I’m hearing from lots of students with varying disabilities who are having

> the same issue.

>

>

>

> Issue no. 2: How-tos. I get email from students who can’t find their class

> recordings, can’t figure out how to play recordings, can’t figure out how

> to submit an assignment, can’t figure out how to post in a discussion etc.

> And I know we’re seeing that everywhere. Only a small subset of folk cope

> well with written instructions. They need to see a video of people

> demonstrating the task or better yet, have someone help them.

>

>

>

> I know here in the CA community college system, our local online ed and

> the CVC-OEI have some great videos on these topics, but how to find them?

> What instructors really need to do, especially for visual learners is to

> always post a link to a video demonstrating how to perform a Canvas task.

> So if the instructor says “use conferzoom to join my class” then they need

> to follow it with a link to a captioned and clearly explained video that

> shows that task. If the instructor says “post your comments about this

> chapter on my discussion board for chapter 3” they need to include a link

> to a how-to video showing justhow.

>

>

>

> Often instead, the instructor links to a generic site like the college’s

> student portal for online learning. There, the student has to sort through

> lots of text and links to find the one video they need that shows them how

> to perform a specific task. I’m good at this sort of thing, finding

> information and following instructions. Few students are.

>

>

>

> Issue no 3: Expectations. I think having low expectations leads to lazy

> learning. One reason so much is done in-class in synchronous fashion is

> that instructors expect that people haven’t done their homework. It would

> be better to assume they have, and if they have not, they snooze they

> loose. This doesn’t mean you don’t offer help, but you keep your

> expectations high. For example, one assignment could simply be for everyone

> to post questions about the previous assignment: “tell me one thing you

> didn’t understand when you were preparing the homework”. This invites

> people not to be perfect but to still be engaged. If you expect people to

> get their work done you can spend class time reviewing the work rather than

> actually trying to do it!

>

>

>

> Issue no. 4: Organization: the more organized an instructor is, the better

> learning experience. I know many faculty are just trying to keep up now,

> but being organized is more important  I believe than anything else. If

> that means one less quiz is posted because the instructor spent his time

> creating a class calendar for the entire quarter, or that one assignment is

> graded late, I still think that being organized is the best accessibility

> tool that an instructor can offer. This means having a calendar that shows

> what is due when. It means posting every piece of material that will be

> used in class a few days before the class meeting. It means having a forum

> on Canvas for questions  students can ask the instructor. It means

> organizing everything in modules according to each instructional week

> rather than posting the entire course content as a ton of announcements. It

> means offering a consistent format for assignments and handouts. It means

> being consistent with message threads – for example, not having the class

> all respond in one single long thread to a variety of posts.

>

>

>

> It means having multiple short handouts rather than something as long as

> this email!

>

>

>

> ***Rant Mode OFF***

>

> P.S. feel free to forward!

>

>

>

> --Debee

>

>

>

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

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>



-- 
Erik Ferguson
Alternative Media Technician
PCC Disability Services Assistive Technology Team
Contact us for questions and support at:
Phone: 971-722-TECH (971-722-8324)
access-tech-group at pcc.edu
*Please Note: I am not in office Tuesday or Thursday. For immediate
response please use the email and number listed in signature above.*
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