A Practical Guide to Accessibility and Universal Design (for Learning): Practices, Possibilities, Pitfalls

Facilitated by

Yasser Tamer & Dani Dilkes

Photo by Yomex Owo on Unsplash

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Explain different approaches to accessible pedagogy and examine their underlying beliefs.
2. Apply the 3 principles to an educational design, either from their own context or an example provided in the session.
3. Reflect on where we hold power to enact change and to influence change.
4. Imagine what a truly inclusive learning environment would be.

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Invitation to Engage

1. You may participate by raising your hand and chatting, using the chat, or silently. There is no expectation for cameras to be on.
2. When we use breakout rooms, you may choose to participate in a collaborative or quiet room.
3. We will explain jargon and define key terms.
4. We will describe key images in the slides.
5. You need only share what you’re comfortable sharing.
6. We invite critical engagement with our ideas.

Photo by Amol Tyagi on Unsplash

Reflection:

The one that always stays with me

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Take 2 minutes to reflect on the following question:

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Reflect on a defining moment that shaped your teaching practice.

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Share in the chat.

Access VS Accessibility

Accessibility goes beyond access. It requires:

• Dignity
• Independence
• Integration
• Equal Opportunity

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Medical Model or Social Model?

The Government of Quebec defines disability as “a person’s reduced ability to carry out an activity or to function intellectually, psychologically, physiologically or anatomically.”

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(Gouvernement du Québec, 2023)

Medical Model or Social Model?

The United Nations defines disability as something that “results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”

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(United Nations, 2006)

Medical Model of Disability

• Disability exists within the person or body
• Disability is an impairment that needs to be addressed
• Disability is an individual problem

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• Solution: Accommodation
• Provide individual supports on a case-by-case basis
• Reactive
• Can create additional time/finance burden for individuals

Social Model of Disability

• Disability occurs through mismatches between a person and the environment
• Disability is a difference not a deficiency
• Disability is a social problem and solutions need to be collective

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• Solution: Universal design or accessibility
• Reimagine designs to offer more flexibility and more choice
• Proactive & collective
• Enables independence and integration

Non Inclusive Design (Breakout Room)

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In breakout rooms, think about the following question:

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• How can you design an non inclusive, unjust, most exclusionary classroom?
• What elements are essential to minimize a sense of belonging and ensuring that students will not be successful?

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Non-Inclusive Design (Group 1)

Long classes (3 hours with zero breaks)

Prioritize “standard” accents

Assuming English/language-of-instruction fluency

Using challenging academic language in course content and lectures

Make assumptions about where people come from based on their accent or visual appearance

Forcing learners to disclose disabilities and needing to provide official diagnoses

Non-Inclusive Design (Group 2)

Non-Inclusive Design (Group 3)

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Accommodation - Overview

• Removes or reduces barriers on an individual basis to allow individuals to access and participate in existing systems.
• Often requires an individual to disclose a need and request an accommodation.
• Much human rights legislation requires “reasonable accommodation” (e.g. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)

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Accommodation - Benefits & Challenges

Benefits:

• Acknowledges and addresses the needs of individuals
• Enables greater participation in society, work, and education

Challenges:

• Results in access fatigue.
• Reactive and can take significant time to identify and address access needs.
• Inherently othering and based on an imaginary idea of “normal”.

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Universal Design for Learning

• Adapted from Universal Design
• “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (Connell et al., 1997).
• Draws on cognitive neuroscience and the beliefs that there is predictable variability in how learners learn
• Goal is to empower learner agency by offering choice

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3 Principles of UDL

• Organized into 3 overlapping principles:
• Multiple Means of Representation (the “What” of learning)
• Multiple Means of Engagement (the “Why” of learning)
• Multiple Means of Action and Expression (the “How” of learning)

(Re)Design Sprints (Breakout Room)

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We will be analysing and applying the UDL principles to course examples. You will have 3 options:

• Work in a group on one of the exemplars we have created
• Work in a group sharing your own examples and problems
• Work independently on either your own materials or one of the exemplars we have created

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Cases

• Case #1: Nutrition & Food Sciences Course
• In-person course with a lecture and lab component
• Assessment includes participation, labs, a midterm exam and a final exam
• Case #2: Media and Society Course
• Synchronous online course conducted over Zoom
• Assessment includes weekly case study presentations, weekly asynchronous discussions, and 2 papers
• Case #3: Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
• Weekly in-person seminar
• Assessment includes professionalism and participation, 3 cases analyses, and a group presentation

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Multiple Means of Representation

• Multiple Means of Representation focuses on the “what” of learning.

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• Recognizes that learners differ in:
• how they perceive and process information
• how they comprehend symbols, language, and media
• how they build meaning from instructional content

Representation: Case Questions

Add to the shared document:

1. What barriers to representation can you identify in the case?
2. What changes can be made to:
• Offer more flexible content?
• Improve the language
• Scaffold learning?

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Multiple Means of Engagement

• Multiple Means of Engagement focuses on the “why” of learning.

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• Recognizes that learners differ in:
• what motivates them to engage with learning
• how they respond to challenge, threat, or reward
• how they persist, regulate emotions, and sustain attention

Engagement: Case Questions

Add to the shared document:

1. What barriers to engagement can you identify in the case?
2. What changes can be made to:
• Increase authenticity and motivation for individual students?
• Spark joy and play in the learning process?

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Multiple Means of Action & Expression

• Multiple Means of Action and Expression focuses on the “how” of learning.

• Recognizes that learners differ in:
• how they approach the learning process
• how they express knowledge
• how they navigate learning paths

Action & Expression: Case Questions

Add to the shared document:

1. What barriers to action and expression can you identify in the case?
2. What changes can be made to allow for:
• Different ways of interacting in the learning process?
• Different ways of demonstrating knowledge?
• Supporting individual goal setting and progression?

Design Justice

• Universal Design is a shift in the right direction, but it still reinforces existing oppressive structures.
• Design Justice
• Centres the voices of Disabled (or otherwise oppressed) individuals in design processes.
• The goal is to dismantle ableist and oppressive social designs and systems.
• Prioritizes the needs and motivations of the community over the needs and motivations of the system.
• The educator plays a role of facilitator rather than authority (redistribution of power).

See Design Justice Principles for more.

Exploring Power and Contextual Constraints

• We all hold power differently in educational spaces; power is not a binary of “have” or “don’t have”.
• Contextual Constraints will impede your ability to evoke change
• Focus on your own Scope of Control (what you can change immediately) and Scope of Influence (where you can plant seeds of greater change).

Speculating Better Futures (Breakout Room)

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In breakout rooms, Discuss the the following question:

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Imagine the future of education when designed through the lens of disability justice.

Reflection:

One Small Thing

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Take 2 minutes to reflect on the following question:

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Reflecting on today’s conversation, what small change can you immediately apply to your educational practice?

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Share in the chat.