Creating Accessible Learning: Introduction

The WHAT

A person with a disability should have the opportunity to:

• Acquire the same information
• Engage in the same interactions
• Enjoy the same services

...as a person without a disability.

The HOW

This should happen:

• In an equally effective manner
• In an equally integrated manner
• With substantially equivalent ease of use.

Paraphrased from the Office for Civil Rights (2014).

Office for Civil Rights. (2014). University of Cincinnati resolution agreement (OCR Compliance Review #15-13-6001). U.S. Department of Education.

Building accessible learning is something that benefits every single student. But firstly and most importantly, accessible learning creates an equitable educational experience for those who require accommodations or the use of accessibility tools.

As creators, enablers, and practitioners of education, each of us is responsible for ensuring an accessible, equivalent, and effective experience for all Library patrons.

Accessibility is something that should be built into the very foundations of everything we create. This requires us to be knowledgeable about the principles of accessibility, and to think about accessibility while still in the planning stages of building learning experiences.

The goal of this guide is to assist and enable all of us to create accessible learning experiences.

This site is intended to help you make accessibility a foundational part of your processes and roles. The menu on the left-hand side of the page is organized by principles of creating accessible content.

Each topic includes an explanation of the importance of that accessibility principle, a breakdown of WCAG guidelines, and detailed steps for using that accessibility principle.