Accessibility is about much more than just following the law. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, nearly 20% of all college students have a disability. Many students do not formally disclose their disability with student services. With a growing number of online writing courses, instructors need to take the initiative to adequately address accessibility in the design of their online courses. Online learning environments that aren’t intentionally accessible risk losing student engagement and the ability to learn. 

Busy instructors likely have limitations with time and available resources that can prevent implementing accessible course materials. However, so much of online writing instruction is front-loaded. By front-loaded, we mean, courses need to be designed and set up prior to the start of the term. For this reason, instructors should view the time spent front-loading as time they will save later in the term. It’s all going to even out, as fully set up courses typically take less time each week. 

Accessibility is an important issue because:

• Making courses that account for disabilities often benefits all learners, not just those with disabilities
• Accessibility is required by law (CA Code 7405)

From a pedagogical perspective, accessibility should be integrated into your course at all levels, including: syllabi statements, assignments, technology literacy, and video accessibility. This field-wide resource, Accessible TPC, was created to help instructors learn more about creating accessible courses. 

At a minimum, instructors should be using pre-set headings in Canvas, MS Word, and PDFs. Using the headings ensures students with screen readers can understand when the section is changing.