CARLI Instruction Committee: Online Accessibility/Inclusion Discussion

The CARLI Instruction Committee presented this online round table discussion as an opportunity for instruction librarians to discuss the quick pivot to online instruction and share how we’re coping with those changes. We’ve all had to make rapid adjustments to our teaching since the spring, and while learning a lot on the fly, we all still have questions about the best ways to meet our students’ needs and keep them engaged.

This discussion focused on the ways we can make our teaching more inclusive and accessible, while highlighting the challenges and opportunities that online teaching presents. The questions provided below can help guide the conversation, but the shape and focus of that conversation can be guided by the interests of the participants.

Recording:

Discussion questions:

• What has the conversation around online teaching been like since the pandemic began:
  • In your library?
  • On your campus generally?
• What have you been learning about accessibility and inclusion?
• What does successful online teaching mean to you, and what techniques have you had success with?
• What do you feel you still need to learn about or what still needs to be incorporated into your online teaching re: accessibility and inclusion?
• Have you read/watched/listened to anything useful on this topic that you’d like to share?
• Have you had experience with new tools or technologies? What have you discovered? What have you found useful or unhelpful about particular tools or technologies?

Resources mentioned by attendees of session:

• Tools:
  • Free online survey tool: Google Forms
  • Free collaborative digital whiteboard: Jamboard
  • Free online collaborative whiteboard: Miro
  • Video production and sharing: Knowmia
• Instructional recommendations and resources:
  • Recommended guidelines for captioning, from CaptionSync. For more captioning best practices and other accessibility guidance, contact your campus office for disability and access services.
  • Making customizable interactive tutorials with Google Forms, from Meredith Farkas.
  • ACRL Project Outcome is a free (with sign up) online assessment toolkit.
  • Classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are simple and anonymous in-class activities designed to collect real-time feedback on your teaching.
  • Active learning assessment techniques, from Sarah K. Jacobs and Carrie Bailey, Oregon Health & Science University, presented at the 2020 Assessment Institute
  • Evidence-based teaching guide: Inclusive teaching, from CBE-Life Sciences Education.
  • Inclusive teaching, from the University of Michigan
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion webinars, from the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement (CORA)
  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines, from CAST (the organization that developed the UDL framework)
  • Emergency online teaching resources, from Washington State University-Vancouver
  • Book recommendation: Small teaching online: Applying learning science in online classes, by Flower Darby