ARTtext: Image Description for Visual Media in K-12 Arts-Based Learning | Adam Wilton
Welcome to my exhibit on authoring image descriptions for visually impaired students in art-focused education. My broader research interest is in digital accessibility for these learners in kindergarten to grade twelve (K-12). Specifically, I am interested in effective strategies and approaches to accessibility education for classroom teachers. As designers and facilitators of learning experiences, classroom teachers play a critical role in ensuring that digitally accessible learning materials are provided to students from the outset.
Starting Points
At the core of this exhibit are two fundamental beliefs. First, disability is not a state or trait that is inherent to the learner. Instead, the experience of disability is shaped by the goodness of fit between the learner’s unique access requirements and how responsive the classroom environment is to these requirements. For example, a digital file given to students as a worksheet that provides no alternative means for a blind student to access visual media creates a mismatch between that student and the learning experience.
Second, ensuring meaningful access to digital learning materials is a shared responsibility of the members of the educational team (e.g., teachers, educational assistants, administrators). The responsibility to make sure that blind and low vision students have access to digital format learning materials rests with this team and not exclusively with blind and low vision students themselves and/or specialist staff (e.g., teachers of visually impaired students). In a classroom guided by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, accessibility starts at the point of content creation or collection before it is shared with students.
Meet Adam
Adam Wilton
Educator and Administrator
adam.wilton@student.ocadu.ca
Adam Wilton (he/him) has been privileged to learn and grow with visually impaired students as an educator and administrator for the last 15 years. After several years as a teacher of visually impaired students (TVI) and Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), Adam began his current role as the manager of a provincial outreach program serving blind and low vision students and their educational teams in British Columbia. A significant part of this role involves coordinating the timely access to alternate format versions of learning materials in both digital and in hard copy (e.g., braille, enlarged print) for students.
An interest in digital accessibility and inclusion brought Adam to the Master of Design in Inclusive Design program, where he is currently a student. Prior to this graduate work at OCAD University, Adam completed an MA in Child Study and Education from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Special Education from the University of British Columbia. In addition to work in applied settings, he is also a sessional instructor at the University of British Columbia, training and mentoring new TVIs from across Canada.
Next: Getting Started with Guidelines for Writing Effective Image Descriptions
A framework to optimize teaching and learning for all students based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression are provided in classroom programs to maximize meaningful engagement and learning.
