Online course accessibility: A single path or multiple pathways to a single destination?
Author: Matthew Marino
Covid-19 first appeared in the United States last March, colleges and universities across the country scrambled to move courses from face-to-face into online formats. The transition was far from smooth, with many professors and students quickly realizing course content was not as accessible as they thought. This spurred our thinking about accessibility within our own courses. Enter Tom Cavanagh and Kelvin Thompson, from the Center for Online Learning at the University of Central Florida. Each week they deliver the Teaching Online Podcast (TOPcast).
Today, we pass this valuable resource on accessibility on to you. Anchored in a thematically chosen cup of coffee, the duo discusses issues surrounding higher education, blended learning, and strategies for engaging the community during digital learning. Click here to access these podcasts. Be sure to check out the show notes for valuable content and coffee links. The episode on accessibility is 28 minutes.
Making online courses accessible
The GOA Design Lab recently published an Online Course Style Guide that offers recommendations to improve the usability, design, accessibility, and inclusion of the online course content. You can check out the guide from the GOA Design Lab website or click here to access it. Let us know what you think of the two resources!