Brown Bag Session: (Re)Designing Your Course Content Placed on Canvas
Whether you teach a class that is completely online, hybrid, or a face-to-face course with any or all course materials posted on Canvas, spend an hour with representatives from Instructional Support and Disability Services for an overview of how to design online course content that helps to ensure accessibility, a requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Improving online accessibility will also help to create a learning environment that is ultimately more useable for all students.
For example, think about the diverse characteristics of the students enrolled in your course: English may not be their first language; they learn differently (visual, auditory, etc.); or they may have sensory, cognitive, physical, and/or other health-related disabilities. Now think about what these students may experience when trying to access online course content. Would any of them struggle with trying to access and/or understand audio, video, images, or PDF documents (which are images) especially if the content is being used to help to convey meaning? If the same content was designed with accessibility in mind – see examples below – then students may have improved access and understanding!
- Images with an alternate text label
- Audio content with a transcript
- Video content with captioning
- PDF documents that are “readable PDFs” (saved in a format in which text can be read by screen reading software)
Creating accessible online course content is achievable especially with the tools that will be highlighted at this brown bag session – tools built into Canvas, Microsoft Word, and other resources and training available on campus through Instructional Support and Disability Services!
We will provide the same content at each of the following brown bag sessions in order to accommodate teaching schedules:
- Tuesday, April 25, 12:40-1:40 p.m., Gallagher 110
- Wednesday, April 26, 12:20-1:30 p.m., St. Vincent’s Hall, Room 315.
Questions: Please contact Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa api 716.286.8120 / ssadare@niagara.edu; Diane Stoelting at 716.286.8076 / ds@niagara.edu; Kelly Engert at 716.286.8541 / kadams@niagara.edu.
Beverages will be provided.