Digital Media and Accessibility, Pt. 1
With more and more classrooms using digital media, it’s important to be aware of issues of accessibility. Whether it is physical, mental, or emotional, disabilities affect the way we learn and by being aware of some of these issues we can be more conscientious as we create and use digital media. In part 1 of this series, I chatted with English Ph.D. student Hunter Deiglmeier (and her adorable guide dog, Linnea*) about being a student and a teacher with a disability.
As someone who is visually impaired, Hunter has always had to disclose her disability in order to receive the help she needs. Usually this includes reading materials having their fonts enlarged, getting a special screen that magnifies books, and getting extra time to take her exams. The Office of Disability Services at Marquette is the provider of these services (more information about the ODS will be posted here soon for part 2 of this series). I asked Hunter if she’s had classes with large components of digital media and what can be frustrating as a student with visual impairment. D2L is usually the digital media of choice for most of her classes and while D2L is more user-friendly than Blackboard, which she used in her undergraduate at Linfield College (McMinnville, OR), neither are her favorite. For Hunter, being able to zoom in to read is vital and not all text formats are equal. Reading in Microsoft Word allows her to increase the font as needed, whereas zooming in to PDFs makes the text blurry. Since most research articles are downloaded as PDFs, ODS is there to convert PDFs to Word. It should be noted that PDF is the program of choice for those who are blind because text-to-speech software — like TextSpeechPro, Zabaware, and NaturalReader — tend to work better with PDFs.
Hunter has also had to present at a poster conference, but posters are problematic. “I can’t always read posters and it definitely takes longer to do so when I try,” Hunter explained to me. So what’s the solution? “Use a large TV or computer screen to display a visual poster.” For this particular conference, Hunter and her project partner obtained a screen from Marquette IT to display their digital poster. The digital poster was made in Powerpoint, and it allowed viewers to be interactive. Conference attendees could zoom in and out of the poster. This was not only the way for the conference to be accessible to Hunter, but it also ensured accessibility to anyone else who might also be visually impaired.
Having been in the position of student for most of her life, Hunter brought her unique perspective on her teaching. She uses a great deal of Powerpoints (which can be interactive) for her lectures, uploads all her assignments onto D2L in Word documents, and makes readings digitally available. When she’s had students with disabilities in her classroom, she likes to check in with them periodically to make sure that their requested accommodations are enough and to see if she can do anything to be more accommodating. To explain more about her teaching method, she said “I always do a caveat of ‘if this isn’t accessible, let me know,’ to make sure the students always have access to what they need. Teachers need to be open in order to be accessible. And not just for permanent disabilities; accessibility also applies to the person with the broken arm.” I also asked her for some tips while teaching. She said, “Always read what is on the board. Try to engage multiple senses. Always post materials digitally.”
Digital media has made learning more accessible. Those with visual impairments can now read because they don’t need to rely on printed material; blind students have text-to-speech technology; hard of hearing students can use closed captioning on videos. As a student and a teacher, Hunter has been on both sides; she knows what is needed for those with disabilities and works to incorporate accessibility into her teaching. For more advice on accessibility with digital media I’ll be chatting with Jack Bartelt, the Assistant Director of Office of Disability Services, soon so check this space for that!
*A public service announcement: when you see a guide dog (or any service dog), do not — do NOT — touch or speak to the dog. The dog is on duty to make sure her or his human gets where they are headed safely. By talking or touching the dog, you will be distracting it from its duty. When in doubt, it’s always best to ask the person if you can pet them.
