Digital Accessibility

EDUA 6381 - Critical Issues in Educational Technology

The video “What is Digital Accessibility?” (Deque Systems, 2018) highlights that over fifty-seven million people have a disability with varying types of impairments ranging from visual, auditory, motor, speech, and cognitive disabilities. On the other hand, in the video “Students Explain Digital Accessibility: Meet the Students” by UTS Learner Experience Lab (2021), it was surprising to see how these assistive technologies helped young people complete their studies. Some even graduated from university, while others pursued further education in fields such as medicine and other professional areas.

The article “Student Digital Literacy” (Student Digital Literacy - Southern Regional Education Board, 2015) highlights the importance of educators providing students with the necessary skills to participate effectively in technology-based learning opportunities from an early age through college. This is crucial for developing lifelong abilities that will lead to success in an increasingly digital world. Disabilities or impairments should not keep those that want to learn from fully realizing their full potential.

However, what does it take to create digital accessibility tools to help students? In the video “Students Explain Digital Accessibility: Meet the Students” by UTS Learner Experience Lab (2021), they asked students with disabilities for their opinions and discovered how different the needs are for each student. What was helpful for one, i.e., captions or text, was different in need for another, requiring text to be converted to audio, while others required large blocks of text, etc. Digital accessibility is about providing students with disabilities multiple options where they can individualize the tools they need to succeed in the classroom.

“Students explain digital accessibility: Meet the Students” states that digital accessibility requires or demands that software and app companies listen to those using these assistive technologies (UTS Learner Experience Lab, 2021). The recommendations made by the students were not radical but practical, such as open communication with all students, through a lecture or workshop, thinking from the student’s perspective, and understanding that everyone has different needs. The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials at CAST (AEM Center - National Center on Accessible Educational Materials at CAST, 2023) offers technical assistance, coaching, and resources to increase the accessibility and utilization of educational materials and technologies for students with disabilities.

As I reflected on the learnings of this assignment, one thing was very evident to me. Assistive technologies are not just for the disabled or impaired but can also be helpful for everyone. I believe that teachers have a moral obligation to continually assess students’ learning and identify disabilities and then incorporate different assistive technologies as part of their teaching strategies to enhance students’ lesson plans and observe and evaluate how students interact and merge technology into their learning processes. As one student mentioned in the video “Students explain digital accessibility: Meet the Students” (UTS Learner Experience Lab, 2021), being open to getting it wrong won’t be a perfect process; changes mean students with disabilities have access to quality education with equal opportunities.

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References

AEM Center - National Center on Accessible Educational Materials at CAST. (2023, April 3). AEM Center. https://aem.cast.org/

Deque Systems. (2018, May 17). What is Digital Accessibility? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grrx2Lva7T0

Student Digital Literacy - Southern Regional Education Board. (2015, December 10). Southern Regional Education Board. https://www.sreb.org/studentdigitalliteracy

National Center on Accessible Educational Materials. (2022, April 8). 2023.EDGamesExPo: AEM Center & AEM Pilot [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Xr--S-8jk

UTS Learner Experience Lab. (2021, April 7). Students explain digital accessibility: Meet the students [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkjLnQKX2G0