The focus of many open education projects is to provide access to education. But what does access mean? If the materials are not accessible for each and every student, do they fulfill the mandate to deliver fully open education? The open education movement has helped people in different parts of the world access content that they would otherwise not be able to view or interact with. Open education resources reduce costs for students and allow for greater flexibility for instructors. Accessibility can help push the movement even further forward.
- The University of British Columbia OER Accessibility Toolkit
As state employees, it is our duty to make sure the resources we provide are ADA compliant; however, faculty do not have to navigate this process on their own. The following resources have been curated to help you navigate the world of accessibility and OER:
Resources Available at ISU
- Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at Iowa State University is a unit in the Dean of Students Office that supports students with disabilities related to the services and programs that enable their access to education and university life.
- The Digital Accessibility Team at ISU provides guidance, support, and consultation to units throughout campus to enable an increasing adoption of accessibility-minded practices. Their website contains helpful solutions such as making PDFs accessible, captioning videos, and using accessible link text.
Accessibility for OER
- Flexible Learning for Open Education (floe): Floe provides access to a group of resources that can help meet individual learners' needs. Find tools to help you create, adapt, or publish accessible OER for your classroom.
- BCCampus Open Education Accessibility Toolkit, 2nd Edition: The goal of this accessibility toolkit is to provide resources for each content creator, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistant to create a truly open textbook—one that is free and accessible for all students.