Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

11 – Accessibility and Universal Design
Many people have a copy of Microsoft Word, but it is
not universal. Student bookstores and some computer
stores carry discounted educational licenses. If
you are going to require students to use Microsoft
Word, let them know of any labs at your school or
university that make it available to those who cannot
afford it.
Other text-based file types, such as spreadsheets, provide
fewer options. The most common spreadsheet format is
a Microsoft Excel (XLS) file. All spreadsheet applications
should be able to save files as a Comma Separated Values
(CSV) file. However, this would strip out any formulas
or calculations that you or the students use.
Looking at ways to spread out your workload over
time, you can start with the first strategy, or saving files in
one or two of the most common formats for your class,
and work your way to the second strategy, or saving files
in multiple formats, over time. This does not have to be
done in a day, but to achieve Universal Design for Learning
it is important to consider these strategies from the
beginning. The concept is not to try to accommodate all
students with one strategy, but to provide alternatives.
The key is to let your students know which formats you
will use and provide them with avenues to get what they
need to read and use the text-based resources.
Visual-nonverbal, or graphic-based resources, assist
learners who prefer graphic-based visual resources, such
as images, charts, graphs, flow charts, animations, or
videos. Many software applications and some websites
allow you to embed charts and graphs within the file
itself. You can easily insert images in Microsoft Word.
Microsoft Excel allows you and students to create different
types of graphs from the data tables. If you use a
complex image, such as a political map or a diagram of
the digestive system, you must still provide a text-based
description for students who use screen readers.
You can use different applications, such as Inspiration,
to create stand-alone flow charts or concept maps.
If you want young students to be able to interact with
this type of file or to create their own, there is a version
called Kidspiration as well. See the Inspiration website
(http://inspiration.com) for more details. By pushing
one button, students can convert Inspiration flow chart
or brainstorm files to text-based outlines. This helps
students with screen readers as well as visual-verbal
learners who prefer the text. Other applications like
Inspiration include Microsoft Visio, a free application
called SmartDraw, and others. For specialized applications,
such as engineering, there are even more. Let your
students know if they will need to download or buy any
additional software for your course, and work with lab
managers to install it at your school or campus if budget
permits.
Auditory resources provide alternatives to learners
who prefer to hear the information, rather than read it.
Screen reader software and text-to-speech applications
can be used by many students, not just those students
with vision impairments. Schools and universities have
different ratios or formulas for how many computer lab
stations must have this type of software to accommodate
special needs. These ratios usually range from one in
twelve to one in twenty computers per lab environment.
In addition, there are other avenues to provide auditory
resources to students. For decades, students have
placed their tape recorders at the front of the classroom
to capture what the instructor says for playback later.
These days, the instructor can record him or herself and
post the audio file online for all students. As with the
other file types, it is important that the students can play
and use the files you create. Common audio file formats
include the Wave (WAV) file created by Microsoft, the
Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) created by Apple,
and the Moving Picture Experts Group’s Audio Layer-3
(MP3) file.
A recent, popular trend for creating and distributing
MP3 audio files is called “podcasting.” Different aspects
of podcasts and the process of creating and distributing
them are described in Chapters 21, Media Selection, and
26, Techno Expression. For our purposes here, it is important
to note that you should provide a transcript for
any audio files.
Video files also provide appropriate stimuli to auditory
learners. Chapter 21, Media Selection, discusses
when it is or is not legal to use clips of copyrighted videos
as course related resources. One important factor
from a UDL standpoint is that streaming video files are
often easier for all students to use than downloadable
video files. Despite the progress related to high-speed
connectivity, not every student has a Digital Subscriber
Line (DSL) or equivalent connection at their home,
school, or workplace. For students using a dial-up modem,
large video files present a very frustrating challenge.
Many times the student will spend hours trying to
download a large file with no success and will give up.
For purposes of accessibility, caption the video or provide
a transcript with timecode references to scene
changes or other important points.
Tactile/Kinesthetic resources create opportunities for
learners who prefer to learn by doing. Resources that
accommodate tactile/kinesthetic learners can take different
forms. First, you can find or create interactive
resources, such as CD-ROMs, websites, or Flash animations,
and require the student to follow a linear or non-
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