Sample Bar Graph that Includes an Accessible, Alternative Version in a Table
Technology is present in every facet of life. It is now common in classrooms of all varieties, placing a responsibility on instructors and administrators to ensure the equitable use of technology. Students at every level of education, from pre-K to graduate and professional studies, present with different abilities and needs. Technology must be accessible to each of these students, regardless of specials needs, different learning styles, or demographics. The most successful strategy for creating an equitable tech experience is the use of a platform that employs an accessible design in the earliest content development stages.
At CourseArc, our mission is clear–make the development of high-quality and accessible online courses easy. Our templated approach makes creating engaging and interactive content a snap, with accessibility built in or clearly prompted. This means that content creators do not have to be accessibility experts to develop content that can be used by any student, including students with disabilities and students who use adaptive technology.
It’s the Law
Creating an equitable learning experience through the use of accessible digital content is not only critical to student achievement, but it is also the law. Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Act all require that educators ensure their content is accessible and non-discriminatory to learners with disabilities. The types of disabilities may be visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, neurological, or a combination of these.
Consequences of Non-Compliance
A violation of any of these laws may lead to federal legal action against public schools and institutions of higher education. As educators rely more frequently on tech in their classrooms, the need for compliance grows as well. In recent years, the Department of Education, private individuals, and advocacy organizations, such as the National Federation of the Blind and the National Association of the Deaf, have filed suit against a number of public education organizations due to a failure to provide accessible web-based learning tools for students with disabilities. Following investigations, the Department of Education entered into a resolution agreement with each entity requiring review and approval for a series of actions to resolve the violations.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), internationally agreed-upon criteria from WC3, are used to measure compliance with these accessibility laws. Since late 2008, WCAG 2.0 AA has been the standard for education. In June, WCAG 2.1 was approved. WCAG 2.1 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content even more accessible, while still keeping the WCAG 2.0 AA recommendations intact. These new guidelines will make content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities. Also, following WCAG 2.1 will often make Web content more usable and understandable to users and learners in general.
If you want to dig into WCAG 2.1 in depth, here are a couple of great resources we recommend:
Mfano Bar Graph ambayo inajumuisha kupatikana, toleo mbadala katika Teknolojia ya Jedwali ni sasa katika kila kipengele cha maisha. Sasa ni kawaida katika madarasa ya aina zote, kuweka jukumu juu ya walimu na wasimamizi kuhakikisha matumizi ya haki ya teknolojia. Wanafunzi katika kila ngazi ya elimu, kutoka pre-K kwa kuhitimu na masomo ya kitaaluma, sasa na uwezo tofauti na mahitaji. Teknolojia lazima iwe inapatikana kwa kila mmoja wa wanafunzi hawa, bila kujali mahitaji maalum, mitindo tofauti ya kujifunza, au idadi ya watu. Mkakati bora wa kuunda uzoefu wa teknolojia ya usawa ni kutumia jukwaa ambalo linatumia muundo unaopatikana katika hatua za mapema za maendeleo ya maudhui. Katika CourseArc, utume wetu ni wazi - kufanya maendeleo ya ubora wa juu na kupatikana kozi online rahisi. Njia yetu ya templated hufanya kuunda maudhui ya kuvutia na ya maingiliano kuwa ya haraka, na upatikanaji uliojengwa ndani au kuonyeshwa wazi. Hii inamaanisha kuwa waundaji wa maudhui hawapaswi kuwa wataalam wa upatikanaji wa maudhui ili kuendeleza maudhui ambayo yanaweza kutumiwa na mwanafunzi yeyote, ikiwa ni pamoja na wanafunzi wenye ulemavu na wanafunzi wanaotumia teknolojia ya kubadilisha. Kuunda uzoefu wa kujifunza wa usawa kupitia matumizi ya maudhui ya dijiti yanayopatikana sio muhimu tu kwa mafanikio ya mwanafunzi, lakini pia ni sheria. "Sheria ya 2 na 3 ya Sheria ya Wamarekani wenye Ulemavu (AWA), Sehemu 504 na 508 za Sheria ya Urekebishaji (REA), na Sheria ya Watu wenye Ulemavu (IPAD), zote zinahitaji kwamba walimu wa kuhakikisha maudhui yao yanapatikana na yasiyo ya ubaguzi kwa wanafunzi wenye ulemavu.""" Aina za ulemavu zaweza kuwa za kuona, kusikia, kimwili, usemi, utambuzi, neva, au mchanganyiko wa hizo. Ukiukaji wa sheria hizi unaweza kusababisha hatua za kisheria za shirikisho dhidi ya shule za umma na taasisi za elimu ya juu. Kama walimu kutegemea mara kwa mara zaidi juu ya teknolojia katika madarasa yao, haja ya kufuata inakua pia. Katika miaka ya hivi karibuni, Idara ya Elimu, watu binafsi, na mashirika ya utetezi, kama vile Shirikisho la Kitaifa la Vipofu na Chama cha Kitaifa cha Vipofu, wamewasilisha kesi dhidi ya mashirika kadhaa ya elimu ya umma kwa sababu ya kushindwa kutoa vifaa vya kujifunza vya wavuti kwa wanafunzi wenye ulemavu. Baada ya uchunguzi, Idara ya Elimu iliingia makubaliano ya utatuzi na kila chombo kinachohitaji ukaguzi na idhini kwa safu ya hatua za kutatua ukiukaji. Miongozo ya Upatikanaji wa Maudhui ya Mtandao (WCAG) ni kanuni za kimataifa zilizokubaliwa na WCA3 na zinatumiwa kupima kufuata sheria hizi za upatikanaji. Tangu mwaka 2008, WCAG 2.0 AA imekuwa kiwango cha elimu. Katika Juni, WCAG 2.1 ilipitishwa. WCAG 2.1 inashughulikia mapendekezo mbalimbali ya kufanya maudhui ya mtandao hata zaidi kupatikana, wakati bado kuweka WCAG 2.0 AA mapendekezo intact. Miongozo hii mpya itafanya maudhui yawe rahisi kwa idadi kubwa ya watu wenye ulemavu. Kwa kuongezea, kufuata WCAG 2.1 mara nyingi hufanya maudhui ya wavuti yawe rahisi zaidi na ya kueleweka kwa watumiaji na wanafunzi kwa ujumla. Ikiwa unataka kutafakari zaidi juu ya WCAG 2.1 na WCAG 2.1, hapa ni rasilimali kadhaa za msingi ambazo tunapendekeza: