Webinar : Born Accessible: Addressing the accessibility skills gap through curricular transformation
Channel: hetsorg
Date: 2023-11-09

What did you learn about accessibility and/or disability when you were in school? We are guessing that the answer is probably “nothing” or “very little.” The discourse in higher education has been mostly around “teaching accessibly”, which involves making sure that course content, technologies, and activities are accessible to students with disabilities. However, very little has been done to make sure that students understand what accessibility is and how it informs their disciplines. A survey in 2017 revealed a gap in accessibility skills. Six years later, that gap still exists. So what can institutions do to make sure their students are equipped to enter the workforce with the skills they need? The conversations must be shifted to “teaching accessibility”, which involves equipping students with basic knowledge of accessibility so that they can develop inclusive practices, policies, and products in their work lives.