Inclusive design task

Educators and institutions alike have a legal responsibility to provide accessible educational materials, including OERs; additionally, accessible OERs provide opportunities to create flexible learning experiences for all students in and beyond the immediate course by contributing to shared knowledge online. How might you create options to support different ways of learning? Return to your OER vision and think again about the following: Who are you creating for? What type of OER are you planning? Consider what you’ve learned about inclusive design.

The process starts with an assessment of your learners.

Learner assessment

There are many different factors that can affect how students learn. They may be cognitive or physical factors, but often they also include factors that are perhaps not as obvious. You might consider students’

• culture, language, and identities
• home-life, learning environment, and personal responsibilities
• demographics
• financial situation or socioeconomic status
• medical, physical or health conditions
• preferences, abilities, and interests
• personal connections and relationships
• mental, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical health
• individual learner goals and aspirations.

Content Assessment

There are many different ways we can analyze content for inclusive design. The way we’ve laid out these steps are just a suggestion, so feel free to explore some of the resources for more information and to develop other strategies.

Assess for Usability

• How easily can the user perform intended tasks with the resource?
• Are there any errors (such as “broken links”) that would frustrate users? How can they be fixed?
• What is the user experience like?

Assess for Accessibility

• Are there any barriers to your resource that might be encountered by people with disabilities?
• Does it meet accessibility standards?

Assess for Inclusion

Think back to your learners. Is/does the resource:

• Free of bias?
• Use clear, concise language?
• Well-structured?
• Incorporate accessibility features like alt text and appropriate use of colour?