Bridging the Accessibility Gap: Improving Communication and Collaboration with Faculty

Bridging the Accessibility Gap: Improving Communication and Collaboration with Faculty

Laura LoreeAccessibility Services CounselorUtah Valley University

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Patrick Loftus (Moderator)Marketing Assistant3Play Mediapatrick@3playmedia.com

Bridging the Accessibility Gap:Improving Communication and Collaboration with Faculty

ObjectivesHow can we alleviate faculty concerns regarding

accessible curriculum?How do we tie accessibility to institutional and

departmental goals?What to say and how to say it to get buy-in from

the top down

How Do We Get There?

Get Buy-In• Institutiona

l Goals• Vehicle

Faculty Input• Survey• Outreach

Respond to Needs• Faculty

Training• Provide

Support

Follow-Up• Set Goals• Reassess• Continue

Conversation

Top DownGetting Buy-In

Institutional GoalsUVU – Serious, Engaged, InclusiveCampus Wide Inclusion InitiativeWritten into Inclusion PlanCampus Wide Access Plan Committee

The Faculty SurveyWhat We Found Out

Completed Surveys

Full-Time Tenured

Tenure Track

Non-Tenured

Adjunct

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

38.89%, Full-Time Tenured,

56

20.14%, Tenure

Track, 29

9.72%, Non-Tenured, 14

31.25%, Ad-junct, 45

Completed Surveys

Receipt of Accommodation Letters

Yes

No

I'm Not Sure

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

91.95%, Yes, 137

6.71%, No, 10

1.34%, I'm Not Sure, 2

Respondents

Know How to Implement Accommodations?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

33.82%, Strongly

Agree, 46

50.74%, Agree, 69

8.82%, Neu-tral, 12

6.62%, Disagree, 9

0.00%, Strongly

Disagree, 0

Responses

Format Preference?

Electronic

Paper

Other

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

53.02%, Elec-tronic, 79

41.61%, Paper, 62

5.37%, Other, 8

Response

Response

Accessible Documents/Accessibility Services Support

Strongly DisagreeDisagree

NeutralAgree

Strongly Agree

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

4.05%, 66.76%, 106.08%, 9

35.14%, 52

47.30%, 70

Know What an Ac-cessible Document

Is

Responses

Strongly DisagreeDisagree

NeutralAgree

Strongly Agree

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

10.81%, 16

35.14%, 5223.65%, 35

22.97%, 346.76%, 10

Know How to Create Accessi-ble Document

Responses

Accessible Documents/Accessibility Services Support (continued)

Strongly DisagreeDisagree

NeutralAgree

Strongly Agree

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

3.38%, 5

14.19%, 2135.14%, 52

33.11%, 4914.19%, 21

Would Like Training on Accessible Doc-

uments

Responses

Strongly DisagreeDisagree

NeutralAgree

Strongly Agree

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

0.68%, 13.38%, 5

17.57%, 26

39.86%, 59

38.51%, 57

Accessibility Services is There

to Support Me

Responses

Did They Find Any Accommodations Difficult?

Yes

No

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

27.97%, Yes, 40

72.03%, No, 103

Response

Response

Which Accommodations Were Difficult/Frustrating? Extra time for exams in Canvas

Delivering/picking up exams from PEC

Finding note takers

Alt format materials for new adjunct who is still developing lesson plans

Accommodations that impact group work, as group work is encouraged

Absence leniency – too vague/participation requirements

Extra time for assignments – prone to abuse/not available on job

Calculator in developmental math courses

Keeping track of accommodations in large lecture hall courses

Concerns about extra time for professional certification exams or for open note/book exams

What Does Accessibility Services do Well? “Provide services for students,

communicates and helps faculty meet accommodations.”

“Taking care of students needs”

“Works with students to help them notify teachers of needs”

“Great ASL interpreters”

“They are professional in dealing with professors…They answer my questions promptly and help me clarify things”

Alt format conversions

Transcription for DHOH students

“Advocates for students”

What Services/Support Would you Like to Receive from Accessibility Services?

Bullet point suggestions for faculty to utilize in working with SWD

Better integration (support/assistance?) with Canvas

Encourage students to work more closely with instructors regarding accommodations

Faculty information website on implementing accommodations

Ongoing dialogue on current AT/tools

Annual email reminder of services available to students and how to access them

Updates on changes in laws/regulations or updated syllabi declarations

Make instructions for accommodations clearer

More communication between faculty/departments and ASD

What Services/Support Would you Like to Receive from Accessibility Services? (continued) Training/Short Online Tutorials

How to make class more accessible How to adapt materials How to implement accommodations effectively Include accessibility training in new Office of Teaching &

Learning (OTL) certification program Essential elements and the accommodative process How to work with specific populations (i.e. autism spectrum,

DHOH) How to encourage “proud” SWD to speak with ASD for

assistance

Responding to Faculty Needs and Concerns

How We RespondedFaculty Training Online faculty workshops Collaborating with Web

Development Services Work with Academic

Affairs and Departments

Faculty Support Outreach to Departments

each year Speaking at Department

meetings

What We Are Working on Now

Met as a department to discuss survey data in-depth Developing improvement plan Reviewing accommodations

• Make instructions clearer-may involve faculty Review policies/procedures for any needed updates

Developing trainings tailored to faculty needs/requests meet accessibility standards

Collaborate with OTL certification trainings

Find new and better ways to get the word out Website Publications/handouts

Questions/Discussion

What are you doing on your campus?

Contact Information

Laura Loree, Counselor

Office of Accessibility Services

laura.loree@uvu.edu

Laura LoreeAccessibility Services CounselorUtah Valley University

Patrick LoftusMarketing Assistant3Play Mediapatrick@3playmedia.com

Q&A

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