Mission Accessible

The increase of students with disabilities and the increased use of digital content has led to an increase in the number of issues related to inaccessible, instructional material. Also, a foolproof method to ensure that all instructors are oriented on disability topics does not exist, and conflicting schedules prohibit training. These issues prompted a need for an efficient and effective method for informing instructors about their legal responsibilities at a federally funded institution. In addition to the existing informational website and small, group presentations on disability practices, an enrichment website was developed on creating accessible videos, color, images, links, and PDFs. Therefore, the purpose of this instructional design project was to evaluate the impact of a website with modules for the teaching faculty at this postsecondary school. Keller’s ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction), Web 2.0 technologies, Constructivism, and Connectivism, are employed for engagement, for modeling technological accessibility, for experiential learning, and for community building between instructors and disability services. Participants included online and face-to-face instructors, former online instructors, and online instructional designers. The immediate goal was for instructors to address accessibility in the design phase of course content; the ultimate goal was to adopt universal design. Early findings from questionnaires, correspondence, and activities were analyzed, evaluated, and reveal that with some adjustments, asynchronous, online modules may be a viable means of training. The results prompt the creation of additional modules and possible certification for completion. Visit the website for Mission Accessible.