UDL Case Study:  Creating a More Inclusive Online Course

CAST collaborated with the Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) to conduct an accessibility review of an Introduction to Micro Nano Technology online course to be used by MNT-EC member institutions. The course was also reviewed for alignment to the principles of Universal Design for Learning. 

Once CAST Disability and Digital Inclusion Lead Luis Perez completed his review of the seven course modules available at the time of the review, he facilitated a series of sessions with Dr. Neda Habibi to explain the results of the review and provide coaching on next steps for addressing the issues needing remediation. Dr. Habibi leads the curriculum development team for the course. Coaching with Dr. Habibi also focused on specific techniques for improving the accessibility of the course, using a draft of the course as a sandbox to explore these techniques in context. Through these sessions, a good portion of the first module of the course has been remediated as a model for further work with the remaining content. 

Accessibility Impact Levels 

Accessibility is foundational to Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Before learners can process and create meaning from course content, they must be able to navigate the learning environment and perceive the information presented to them. Accessibility barriers can also reduce engagement if the design of a course frustrates learners and requires more effort from them.  

For the purposes of prioritizing the order in which accessibility barriers in the Introduction to Micro Nano Technology course need to be addressed, the following industry standard categories for impact levels were used: 
 

Impact Level	Example
Critical: results in blocked content for individuals with disabilities. Until a solution is implemented content may be completely inaccessible. Remediation should be a top priority.	Images that provide information essential for understanding need to include alternative text. When reading the content aloud to someone who is blind, a screen reader may read the file name for the image if the alternative text is missing. The file name may not be descriptive, which could lead to confusion when listening to the information being read aloud.
Serious: results in serious barriers for individuals with disabilities. Until a solution is implemented some content will be inaccessible. Users relying on assistive technology may experience significant frustration when attempting to access content. Remediation should be a priority.	Videos need closed captions (a textual representation of the dialogue and other important sounds). Learners who are Deaf or hard of hearing may be able to make out what is happening in a video from the visuals, but that will require more effort and may result in inaccurate interpretations.
Moderate: results in some barriers for individuals with disabilities but would not prevent them from accessing fundamental elements or content. This issue must be resolved before a page can be considered fully conformant.	Instructing learners to “look to the menu on the left” in instructions may be confusing for someone using a technology (such as a screen reader) that presents the information in a more linear way. It may also confuse learners on a mobile device where the layout may change to accommodate the smaller screen.
Minor: results in decreased usability but will not block individuals with disabilities from accessing the content. Should be remediated last (a time allows).	Using the word “select” instead of “click” is more inclusive because a selection can be performed with a range of technologies, not just a mouse. Some people are not able to use a mouse to click due to motor or visual challenges, while others simply prefer to use the keyboard because they are faster with it.

Categorizing identified accessibility barriers using this framework will assist the MNT-EC curriculum development team, led by Dr. Habibi, in determining how to best allocate resources (time and effort) toward the items with the most significant impact on the user experience of the course. 

The Introduction to Micro Nano Technology course was developed with the learning management system Canvas, which has a built-in accessibility checker that can help with some of the most common accessibility issues that automated checkers can reliably identify. Using this built-in accessibility checker as a first line of defense when developing new course content was emphasized during our coaching sessions together. 

Common Findings

A number of frequently identified issues were uncovered during the accessibility review of the Introduction to Micro Nano Technology. Addressing these issues is crucial to making the content accessible to learners with disabilities, but in accordance to UDL principles benefits others as well:

• Adding alternative text to images makes them accessible to learners with visual and learning disabilities who use screen readers or text-to-speech technology to have the image described to them with the alternative text. The alternative text also takes the place of the corresponding images when these are turned off to save bandwidth. Including it can make the information more accessible to learners who rely on a mobile device with a data cap or who live in locations with poor connectivity, where turning off images may be a necessity.  In some cases, such as when the image is already described in surrounding text and we want to avoid redundancy, it may be appropriate to select the “Decorative Image” option if one is available. This will cause the image to be skipped when a screen reader or text-to-speech technology comes across it.  
• Closed captions and transcripts are meant to make information more accessible to learners who are deaf or hard of hearing but have also been found to benefit those learning a second language.  Others who can benefit from captions include those accessing the content in noisy public environments and those wanting to watch instructional videos while other people in their household are sleeping or studying quietly. Captions and transcripts can also make it easier to understand the specialized vocabulary used in STEM content.  
• A logical heading structure makes it easier for screen reader users to navigate the content. It also reveals how the information is organized, which can help all learners understand the content by making the big ideas and relationships more apparent. Typically, section headings should be marked up as level 2 headings in most learning management systems (the page title is usually already a level 1 heading), and subsections as level 3 headings.  
• Descriptive links (which take some text and turn it into a hyperlink as opposed to presenting the full web address on the page) save time and effort by reducing the need to guess what information will be available when a link is activated, which improves usability for everyone.  
• Using high-contrast color combinations is essential for learners with low vision, but it can also make the content easier to read for everyone when in harsh lighting conditions where glare may be an issue, such as while commuting on a train or bus. 
• Not relying on spatial or sensory characteristics (e.g., on the menu to the left, the image to the right) in instructions can make the content easier to understand and use for users of technologies such as screen readers that present the information in a more linear way. Avoiding these characteristics also makes the content work better on mobile devices where information may be laid out different to account for the smaller screen.  

The Creating Accessible Documents resource from the National AEM Center at CAST has tips and how-to instructions for addressing these common accessibility issues. While the resource is meant to support the creation of accessible documents, the tips and techniques shared in this resource apply to any editor, including the one used to author content in a learning management system such as Canvas. 

Long Description of Complex Images

One of the recurring issues identified during the accessibility review of the course was the use of complex images to illustrate key concepts of micro nanotechnology. For these kinds of complex images, alternative text, which is meant to be a brief explanation of 125-150 characters, would not be sufficient. A long description would need to be created in addition to brief alternative text and through some research a way to present a long description in a way that makes it available to everyone on demand (a UDL approach) was identified, tested, and found to meet keyboard accessibility requirements as well as having screen reader compatibility. 

UDL Moves  

In addition to identifying accessibility barriers, references to the UDL Guidelines were added as “UDL Moves” to the document shared with Dr. Habibi and her team. The UDL Guidelines are an instructional design framework CAST pioneered and continues to develop to guide the development of more inclusive learning environments for everyone. Building on a foundation of accessibility, UDL provides additional strategies for addressing the variability present in every learning environment through the application of three core principles.

Three Core UDL Principles

1. Multiple Means of Engagement: This principle recognizes that learners have different interests and motivations and suggests that activities and materials should be designed to engage learners in multiple ways, such as through meaningful tasks, choice, and social interaction.  
2. Multiple Means of Representation: This principle recognizes that learners have different ways of processing information and suggests that materials and resources should be presented in multiple ways, such as through visual, auditory, and textual forms. 
3. Multiple Means of Action and Expression: This principle acknowledges that learners may have different ways of demonstrating their understanding and suggests that they should have multiple options for interacting with the material and expressing their knowledge, such as through written responses, oral presentations, hands-on projects, or a combination of these. 

Each of these principles corresponds to several guidelines and checkpoints that provide additional information on specific instructional strategies. Links to specific checkpoints were provided in each UDL Move.  

UDL Move Guidelines

1. Have a clear starting point for students. A busy course navigation menu can make it difficult for students to find their way to the content they need to make progress in the course. As much as possible, simplify the course navigation menu by hiding items that are not immediately needed. 
2. Start strong. Consider creating an introductory video that welcomes students to the course in a more personal way (especially if you are teaching an online-only course). In the video, explain the connections between what they will learn in the course and broader career outcomes to emphasize relevance. For each module, start with a story, a case, or a video that places the content to be learned in a more authentic context. 
3. Communicate expectations in student-friendly language. Use generative artificial intelligence (genAI) to translate approved course objectives into more student-friendly language that can also be shared with students to support understanding of course expectations. 
4. Chunk information to support retention and recall. Break up long pages into multiple shorter screens and use properly marked up headings to organize content within pages into more manageable sections. After a few screens of content, include a prompt or an activity that supports students in synthesizing what they have just learned before they move on to new content. 
5. Highlight big ideas and relationships. Assist learners in identifying the big ideas they need to focus on through design elements. For example, a video can include a list of takeaways next to it, and a reading can have a series of guiding questions to set up learners to read in a more goal-directed way.  
6. Support students’ executive functioning. Students vary greatly in their ability to plan, manage resources, and monitor their progress in order to accomplish learning goals - the executive functions. Devices such as checklists of key dates, and breaking up large projects into smaller deliverables (outline, bibliography, first draft, etc.) can help all students, including those with executive functioning challenges, stay on track toward successful completion of course objectives. 
7. Provide multiple pathways based on student’s prior knowledge and goals. For each module determine what is “must know” and “nice to know” content. You can then streamline the module to focus more on the enduring understandings you want students to take away from the course, while at the same time providing the “nice to know” content as supplementary information for those who want to explore a given topic in greater depth.
8. Use the built-in accessibility checker if one is available. Many learning management systems now have a built-in accessibility checker that can help you quickly identify basic accessibility issues (such as images missing alternative text). Similarly, Microsoft Office has a built-in accessibility checker you can use to check the accessibility of your syllabus, handouts, and other documents. 
9. Share key documents in multiple formats. PDF works well for content that is to be printed, but it is a legacy format that can be difficult to make compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies learners may need to access the content. Consider sharing the source file for the syllabus and other key documents, which is usually a Microsoft Word document that can be more easily made accessible using the tools mentioned in the previous tip. 
10. Make it easy to access support. Consider creating a separate module that houses all information related to technology and the use of the Learning Management System. This will ensure students can access these resources from anywhere in the course and assist in minimizing technical issues that could be barriers to learning. 

Additional Resources

• Top Ten Tips for a More Inclusive Online Course (PDF)

 

About MNT-EC

The Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) is led by Pasadena City College in collaboration with Edmonds College, Portland Community College, and Northwest Vista College. The MNT-EC connects existing micro and nano NSF ATE Resource Centers and leverages a broad set of expertise to prepare a nationwide skilled technical workforce for the manufacture of micro and nano products. 

Each member of MNT-EC brings resources—such as cleanrooms, educational materials, and remote operation of lab instruments—to support and inform the development of a common curriculum for associate degrees and certificates in micro nanotechnologies. 

To help faculty in academic institutions remain current in micro- and nanotechnology innovations, the MNT-EC offers periodic workshops or webinars across various specializations (such as safety, fabrication, and operations) provided by academic and industry members.

Disclaimer

AccessATE is funded by the National Science Foundation under DUE#1836721. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.