For many instructors, the first contact they will have with accessibility issues in distance education when they get a phone call or an e-mail from the campus disability services office, calling on behalf of a student with a disability.
Unlike traditional classrooms, instructors in distance education courses do not always have face-to-face contact with students. In a traditional classroom, the need to accommodate a student with a disability may be obvious. For example, if a student who is deaf is in a traditional classroom, very few instructors will question her need for a sign-language interpreter. However, an instructor may go days or weeks into a distance learning class before learning that a student has a disability.
The first step in responding effectively to accommodation requests is to understand the appropriate procedure. Every campus has its own system for handling accommodation requests. The most usual procedure is for students to route accommodation requests through the campus office for students with disabilities. Instructors may find, however, that students -- especially off-campus students -- will approach them directly for accommodation requests instead of following the appropriate procedure. Instructors should be knowledgeable about the system in place on their campus and handle accommodation requests appropriately.
Another important issue is communicating with all stakeholders about technology issues. For example, suppose that an instructor is teaching an online course that contains 45 hours of lectures delivered through streaming video. A student who is deaf or hard of hearing signs up for the course, not knowing in advance that the lectures do not have the captioning she would need to access the material. After the course starts, the student contacts the disability services office, who requests that the videos be captioned.
From a technical perspective, providing the captioning for the lectures may not be difficult. Free software is available to caption most online video files. The student and the disabilities services coordinator may be aware of this software, and may request that it be used to caption the files.
From the perspective of the student and the disabilities services coordinator, such an accommodation request may be reasonable. However, captioning 45 hours of lecture material requires a substantial time commitment from the instructor. From the instructor's perspective, such a request may be unreasonable.
The best way to resolve such conflicts over information technology accessibility is to engage in an "interactive process," similar to what occurs in the ADA employment setting. Instructors, students, and disability services coordinators should work together to seek creative solutions to accommodation requests. For example, in this hypothetical situation, the disabilities services coordinator could offer to recruit a work-study student with a disability to undergo training on the captioning software and caption the lectures on a no-cost basis. Alternatively, the student could be given the opportunity to withdraw from the course and take it again at a later time after the captioning process is complete.
One important tip in dealing with accommodation requests is to take the time to explain the technology issues to other participants in the interactive process. Most students and many disability services coordinators will likely be unfamiliar with the course design process and may be unfamiliar with some of the information technology issues. Many instructors, on the other hand, may be unfamiliar with assistive technology issues, the legal issues regarding accessibility, or disability issues in general. Establishing effective communication among all stakeholders is key to the success of the accommodations process.
Just as every online course is unique, and every student is unique, every accommodation request is unique. Responding to accommodation requests in a timely, thoughtful, and effective manner will result in greater accessibility -- and greater educational opportunities -- for students with disabilities.
The next page will present information on policy development for accessible information technology in higher education.
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