6 How Do I Make My Classroom Accessible?

As mentioned earlier, disability is a multifaceted aspect of identity that requires a lot of consideration. The term ‘accessible’ is complicated, as what is accessible for one person can be inaccessible for another. For example, someone who is visually impaired may need bright lights to read, while someone who deals with chronic migraine may need dimmer lighting to prevent an episode.

So, it is important to understand that making your classroom accessible is more than checking off a list of tasks. Having conversations with students, where possible, on how your classroom and your teaching can be more accessible to them, is critical to making your classroom more accessible.

Despite this, we have provided a list of recommendations for you to consider implementing into your classroom to make it more accessible. Again, this is not an exhaustive or perfect list, and we ask that you take into consideration the needs of your students. There is no such thing as 100% accessible to everyone.

Physical Accessibility

• Ensure, when possible, that the classroom layout is easy to navigate for those with mobility impairments.
  • o Enough space for someone who uses a wheelchair to move around (standard is 3ft), enough space for a service dog to move around, etcetera.
    • If a classroom cannot be adjusted to maintain physical accessibility for one of your students, assist them in getting in contact with SAS to navigate proper accommodations. This may include changing classrooms when necessary.
  • Accommodate, when possible and when brought to your attention, for those with light sensitivities; this involves closing curtains, turning off some lights, and dimming lights, or suggesting that the student wear sunglasses in the classroom.
    • o Overly bright lighting can severely impact a student’s ability to attend and focus in class.
      • Some lights make high-pitched sounds that those with noise sensitivity can hear.
      • Some lights can trigger migraine episodes or general headaches.
      • Some lights can generally make it harder to focus.
    • o However, some students may require fully bright lights to see in some instances. It’s up to your discretion and conversations with students on how to best navigate these situations.
  • Ensure that the physical environment surrounding the classroom is safe and traversable for all students, especially for those with wheelchairs, mobility aids, and for those with visual impairments.
    • o Physical inaccessibility due to barriers can prevent a student from accessing your classroom entirely, thereby inhibiting their learning experience.
    • o If there are barriers to physical inaccessibility that you cannot directly resolve, such as icy/snowy sidewalks or broken accessibility buttons, we highly encourage you to contact facility services [hyperlink] to submit a request.
      • As a note, we commonly hear from students that accessibility buttons do not work. Reporting these issues to facility services is something that we greatly appreciate, as the more it gets reported, the more awareness is brought to it and the more accessible our campus can be.

Transcripts and Captions

• Utilize transcription services or closed captioning for any videos provided to your students to help students who may need them.
  • o There are many reasons why a student may use closed captioning or transcripts, and their implementation can drastically impact your students’ learning experience.
  • o To enable closed captioning/transcription, please follow these guides:
    • Echo360
    • Zoom
    • Microsoft Teams
  • o McMaster’s Accessibility Hub states that all recorded material distributed as a part of a course must be captioned, whether courses are in person or online.
    • However, teaching staff are only required to have captions that are automatically generated by these platforms.
      • We bring to light how automatically generated transcription services can misinterpret what is being said and present captions/transcripts that are incorrect and confuse students.
      • Providing students with your scripts can often help mitigate these issues, as they can cross-reference incorrect captions with lecture plans/scripts to ensure they are understanding properly.
    • o If a student requires fully accurate captioning according to their accommodations, SAS will get in contact with you and assist you with the process.
  • Provide image descriptions for all images, diagrams, or graphics that you use in your slides or post to A2L.
    • o Image descriptions can help those who are visually impaired or have other visual disabilities in understanding images that may be otherwise difficult to discern. It may also provide an alternative explanation of the diagram that could enhance general student understanding.
      • When you upload any images to A2L, please provide alternative text. You can find how to do so here
      • When writing image descriptions/alternative text, please keep it in as much plain language as possible. Highlight the key points of what the image is conveying.

Livestream / Record Live Lectures

• Livestreaming and recording lectures is a point of contention between students and teaching staff at McMaster.
  • o We acknowledge how the recording of lectures puts teaching staff’s work at risk of being stolen or losing value, and how recording lectures has the potential to impact their jobs. We also acknowledge how livestreaming lectures has the potential to reduce the amount of in-person engagement that students have in the classroom and reduce the quality of education provided to students.
  • o However, we also want to bring to light how recording and livestreaming lectures can make classrooms more accessible for disabled students specifically.
    • There are a variety of reasons that a student may be unable to physically or mentally attend class in person. This can include symptom flareups in chronic pain disorders, episodes in mental disorders, sudden migraines, and other reasons.
    • Recording or live-streaming lectures allows students who can’t otherwise attend class to avoid missing out on important information and the traditional student experience. It can be detrimental to a student’s grade when they can’t make it to a class that doesn’t record or livestream their lectures.
    • We also consider how disability can often be an isolating experience, and simply ‘reaching out to another student for notes’ is not possible, especially now with the discontinuation of the volunteer note-taking program through SAS that we are working to remedy.
  • We encourage you to record or live stream your classes to students to be accommodating to students who cannot otherwise make it to your class.
    • o UTS can help you set up Echo360, McMaster’s main program for live-streaming in the classroom. You can learn more about Echo 360 here [hyperlinked], and how McMaster is using it here [hyperlinked].
    • o McMaster University’s library also has a great resource on Echo 360 here [hyperlinked], which outlines how to set up Echo 360, how to allow students to download your lectures, and who owns your recordings as you upload them.
    • o If you use Zoom or Teams for your lectures, you can also record them alongside the transcript.
      • To find out how to record on Zoom, click here [hyperlinked].
      • To find out how to record on Teams, click here [hyperlinked].

Diverse evaluation formats

• Creating diverse evaluation formats (i.e. presentation, tests, written reports) can compensate for other formats that may have accessibility hindrances for some students
  • o This way teaching staff can uphold high expectations for all students while allowing for multiple ways to meet expectations

Alternatively, if a student does not feel comfortable with a certain evaluation format due to their accessibility, a substitute format can be created (i.e. oral exam instead of written)

Lecture content

• Legibility
  • Ensure content is legible and of appropriate large font size by asking class. If you are using a blackboard for writing, please develop and practice a writing style appropriate for everyone
• Images and diagrams
  • Try to provide images in appropriate size and colour that does not cause too much strain on the eyes. If the image is poorly legible, please try to recreate or modify it, or at a minimum thoroughly explain the image so students grasp the necessary details. To mitigate colour contrast issues, please consult the following resource: colour contrast checker
• Avenue To Learn (A2L)
  • Consult the following guide about text contrasts, providing video notes, and alt text to make A2L content more accessible: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/brightspace/2019/10/28/how-can-i-make-my-brightspace-course-more-accessible/
  • The following document also contains an extensive list of the accessibility features available on A2L. This can be referred to in addition to what is outlined above to maximize accessibility: https://www.d2l.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220331-Brightspace-Core-WCAG-2.1-AAA-checklist.pdf

Undertake formal accessibility training

• Flex Forward training for accessibility is recommended for professors but not required. It is encouraged that all professors complete the online training on Mosaic, and they will also receive formal certification after completion of the online quiz. A new chapter has been added called “Module 7: Accessibility in Online and Technology-Enhanced Learning” for accessibility during the pandemic. This is an excellent resource to learn more about how to make teaching and learning more accessible using technology.
  • Steps to access the training modules

Another important resource published by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario discusses the advantages to remote learning and how to make in-person learning more accessible