Description

The decisions that we make about the design of our courses and curricula will affect students’ ability to access, participate in, and contribute to meaningful learning experiences. What impact might our course design have on students living with disabilities? In this faculty learning community, we will explore how an educational approach to accessibility based on inclusive design not only benefits students living with disabilities but has a broader impact and benefit to all students.

Intended Outcomes

Through participation in this community, you will engage with colleagues to:

• Explore disability, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
• Differentiate accessibility and accommodations and their impact on student learning.
• Identify specific design decisions that improve accessibility and apply them to your own instructional context.
• Evaluate the accessibility of learning materials, activities, tools, and spaces.
• Integrate the perspectives and experiences of people living with disabilities in your design of accessible learning materials, tools, and spaces.
• Identify resources to support you in your ongoing commitment to inclusive teaching.

Meeting Details

The community will meet five times during the Spring semester (schedule below), on Friday afternoons from 12:00-1:15pm. All meetings are in person and lunch will be provided.

Prior to each meeting, we will explore readings related to accessibility, and during our meetings, we will engage in discussion and hands-on work leading to concrete take-aways for our teaching. Meetings will include a tour of the Student Disability Access Center (SDAC) and discussion with SDAC Director Barbara Zunder as well as conversations with students from the UVA Student Disability Alliance.

Meetings will be facilitated by LDT Instructional Designers Emily Scida and Chad Diehl. The LDT instructional design team will be available to support faculty course design efforts. Additional resources will be available in the form of student input, readings and videos, and connections to the UVA accessibility community including the Coordinator of Academic Accessibility, Academic Accessibility, Digital Accessibility, Accessibility Partners @ UVA, and the Student Disability Access Center (SDAC).

Participants interested in working on a project focused on accessibility in some area of their teaching are encouraged to apply for a 2024-2025 A&S Learning Technology Incubator Grant. Application deadline is mid-March. There may be additional support available for summer 2024 projects – more information to follow.

Meeting Schedule and Topics

Expectations

Participants should expect to attend at least four of the five sessions and to commit up to 1 hour completing readings before each session to be able to engage fully in discussion and hands-on work. 

Eligibility

Participants will be any A&S faculty interested in accessibility, including full-time and part-time faculty (tenured/tenure-track, AGFM), and postdocs. The community will be limited to 12 participants.

Sponsors

This program is organized with generous support from A&S Learning Design & Technology and A&S Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Application

No prior experience with accessible design or UDL is required. Please submit your application by January 19. Applicants will be contacted soon thereafter. Please email Emily Scida (ees2n) or Chad Diehl (crd8y) with any questions.

Accessibility Faculty Learning Community Application

Any questions? Please contact Emily Scida at ees2n@virginia.edu or Chad Diehl at crd8y@virginia.edu