General
By making virtual classrooms accessible, you are promoting inclusivity and diversity in the learning environment. Students with disabilities may find hard to attend to traditional classroom settings due to physical barriers. By making virtual classrooms available and accessible, you are promoting a more inclusive learning environment. When virtual classrooms are accessible, students are more likely to be engaged, motivated, and successful in their learning. Accessible virtual classrooms are a key aspect of overcoming barriers to learning, building confidence and achieving academic goals.
Related topics
Key tips
- Provide multiple ways to access the information
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Make sure that your content is available in multiple formats, such as text, audio, and video. This can help students who have different learning styles or who may have difficulties accessing specific formats.
- Clear and concise language
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Use clear and concise language when presenting information, keeping paragraphs short and avoiding flashing content. This can help students who may have difficulties with language processing or who are not fluent in the language being used.
- Closed captions and transcripts
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Include closed captions and transcripts for all video and audio recordings. This can help students who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as those who may have difficulties processing audio.
- Accessible educational material
- Make sure that all documents and materials are accessible both for those who use and who don’t use assistive technology by using proper formatting, alternative texts for images, and accessible fonts and colours, among others. Provide the material in advance. Eg. for presentations, give access to the digital slide deck in advance.
- Check with assistive technologies
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Choose tools and platforms for virtual classroom implementation that are accessible to all students, including those who use screen readers, magnifiers, or other assistive technologies. Make sure to test these tools to ensure they are working properly.
- Flexibility and accommodations
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Be open to providing flexibility and accommodations for students who need them, such as extra time on assignments or exams, or alternative ways to complete assignments.
- Ask for feedback
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Finally, seek feedback from learners to ensure that your virtual classroom meets their needs. Encourage students to inform you about accessibility issues and be open to making changes to improve the accessibility of your virtual classroom..