for All Learners (Universal)

How accessible is the digital content shared with your students? With students using an increasingly wider range of software and online tools, it is more important than ever to consider the accessibility of learning content.

Designing for Inclusion is an interactive workshop intended to provide educators with the tools and strategies necessary to produce more accessible educational materials for all learners. In this presentation, the principles of inclusive design are applied to content created in online platforms such as Office 365 or Google Apps for Education. Participants learn how to design content with accessibility in mind from the outset so that materials can be accessed by the greatest number of students with diverse access requirement. Topics include:

·         Exploring the helpful features of digital files, like read aloud and highlighting

·         Learning about how styling, colour contrast, and images contribute to the accessibility of a document

·         Captioning for pre-recorded and live video (e.g., Zoom, Teams, YouTube)

·         Formatting documents for best results for students using Immersive Reader or Read&Write. 

(register here: https://forms.gle/7EzHCboBUECcMcYZ6)

ARC-BC is funded by the BC Ministry of Education and hosted by the Vancouver School Board via PRCVI. ARC-BC works in consultation and partnership with BC school districts and independent schools, other alternate format producers, and publishers to provide requested materials in a timely manner.

Colton McClaflin is the IT and Multimedia Specialist at PRC/ARC-BC. He presents regularly on digital accessibility and the use of alternate format materials from ARC-BC.

Jen Jesso is a teacher of students with visual impairments, O&M specialist, and the outreach coordinator at PRCVI. She regularly presents on access technology from her perspective as both a user and educator.