THE 5 MINUTE ACCESSIBILITY MAKE OVER

Maureen Barnes, Director, Student Accessibility Services

 Things you can do immediately - The 5 Minute make over

delivery

• always face the class and make eye contact when speaking
• use a microphone when necessary
• structure class time in a consistent manner
• post course materials such as syllabi or handouts in WebCT or readings in the Library Online Reserve
• if you use electronic presentation tools (e.g., PowerPoint) make sure that presentation is legible (minimum 20 pt. font, with a high-contrast colour scheme)
• provide feedback on work before the next assignment or assessment

materials

• consider providing lecture outlines (not complete notes) and advanced organizers for lectures that students can annotate during class
• structure and format material for easy readability
• provide students with materials in multiple formats: at the very least, provide digital equivalents of  hardcopy handouts
• ensure that all digital materials you provide to students are in an accessible format (e.g., some PDFs are not accessible)

environments

• ensure your course website is accessible and usable: use an accessibility checker to identify any potential problems
• use "ALT" (alternate text) tags for any images on web pages so that they may be identified by text-browsers or by screen-reading programs used by students with disabilities
• at the beginning of a course and/or in your syllabus, encourage anyone with a disability to come forward and speak with you about it in private
• ensure people feel free to engage in discussion in your course without fear of ridicule or harassment; encourage the open