- Avoid adopting tools that create unnecessary access barrier (i. e. requiring an additional purchase of an access code) unless the content will be used after the emergency; Be in touch with OIT by writing to its@williams.edu for help and more information or visit our extended virtual drop-in session at https://williams.zoom.us/j/638389036 weekdays from 9AM ~ 8PM, and weekends from 10AM ~ 6PM (EST). Laura Muller, Chad Topaz, and Beth Fischer are also here to help.
- Consider students affected by illness, who lack access to computers, power or the Internet, or who lose access due to emergency circumstances. Remember that video and other synchronous connections require a stronger Internet connection than asynchronous
- Make a plan to support students who require differentiated instruction, accommodations, or accessible digital. Web Accessibility in Mind has a good Introduction to Web Accessibility.
- Glow is readable by a screenreader, but you should consider some design features with materials you distribute there
- Consider captioning materials you make available through video
- Google Meet also includes a live captioning function.
- Most captions for Panopto videos need to be manually uploaded: If you already have a caption file you may manually upload the caption file in a few simple steps.
- The YouTube captioning support page offers a free and easy method of adding captions to your videos if you host them at YouTube. You may also use the guidelines on how to caption YouTube Videos from the National Center on Disability and Access to Education.
- YouTube gives the option to generate automatic captions. Automatically generated captions are often not accurate, but users can review, edit, or unpublish automatic captions.
- YouTube Video Privacy: If you wish to constrain the visibility of your videos, you can identify individual videos as private or unlisted, or place videos in a playlist that you have identified as private or unlisted. See, How to Create YouTube Unlisted or Private Videos and Playlists.
- For students who are blind or have low visibility, narrate the material that you’re displaying visually on the screen. Just as you might read materials aloud in class, read screen material that you share on-screen just in case students are not able to see essential text.
- Take a look at the National Center for Disability and Access in Education cheatsheets for developing accessible content
- Look through the repository for OER materials you may want to use instead of creating your own materials
- Consider the recommendations of Purdue University’s Office of Institutional Equity Accessibility Resources
- The DO-IT Network provides 20 Tips for Teaching an Accessible Online Course
Sources:
- Brown University Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning Ways to Support Student Assignments During Times
- Xavier University Institutional Continuity Planning
- Jenae Cohn and Beth Seltzer, Stanford University Teaching Online in Times of Disruption, for SIS and PWR
- Online Learning Toolkit Emergency Online Instruction Checklist
- Pepperdine University Center for Teaching Excellence: Keep on Teaching
- University of Washington Center for Teaching and Learning Teaching and grading during the coronavirus outbreak
Updated March 20
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