Blog 3 – Accessibility and Equity

What did you find when you ran the WAVE accessibility report on your blog post(s)? What did you expect and what was surprising? Is there anything you will do differently going forward?

Surprisingly, there were 6 contrast errors and 17 alerts when I ran the WAVE accessibility report on my blog post from last week. On the web, the layout may appear to be acceptable in some cases, but the WAVE Accessibility report will highlight any issues. I will always run a blog post through WAVE in the future.

Have you used Text to Speech tools before? Did you find it useful? Did you try out some of the different voices? What impact did the different voices have on your ability to absorb information?

As a non-native English speaker, the pronunciation function in the dictionary app is my first impression of Text to Speech tools. I have not tried the specific Text to Speech tools, but I have listened to the audio while reading some online research papers. For instance, GALE OneFile uses a female voice and speaks at a moderate pace, which I think makes it easier for me to understand what is being said.

What role do you think media and multimedia can play in a learning environment designed with UDL guidelines in mind? Which of the promising practices for text, images and video are in alignment with these guidelines?

In the video, Shelley Moore describes the four evolution processes of inclusion:

1. Exclusion
2. Segregation
3. Integration
4. Inclusion

The practice of teaching students from various backgrounds and abilities in the same classroom is known as inclusion. Every person has a different capacity for learning, so it is crucial to choose multimedia resources that will best meet the needs of each individual student. Giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through text, images, or video can result in imaginative and motivating results.

What does inclusive design mean to you?

Inclusive design means diversity to me, taking into account various nationalities, races, languages, cultures, gender identities, and even mental health conditions. UVic is trying to provide an accessible, inclusive environment. Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) supports students with disabilities and health issues, learning strategists, tutors, and full service notetakers. After joining, instructors and others will create learning environments that are inclusive and usable, which could help students with disabilities to have the same access to education as everyone else.