Learning Material Accessibility & Availability

2. Learning Material Accessibility & Availability The creation and production of academic materials for universal access by students of all learning styles through digital, audio, and enlarged print media while accommodating a diversity of access methods Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)

3. Issue: Students having access to all course/instructional materials at the same time (i.e., textbooks, course-packs) • Partial Solution: Knowing what the instructional materials are with sufficient advance notice so materials can be converted to an accessible format (i.e., audio, large print, Braille)

4. Pros of a Deadline • Encreases liklihood of successfully creating accessible instructional materials • Increases liklihood that all students will have textbooks in a timley fashion • Bookstore able to reimburse students a higher rate for used books • Demonstrate effort made toward meeting Executive Order requirements

5. Cons of a Deadline • Faculty need to identify instructional materials by a specific date • Concern about being able to select, add, improvise instructional materials with short notice • New courses/late hires

6. For Consideration • Instructional materials include textbooks, course-packs, hand-outs, etc. • However, the most difficult and time consuming conversion are textbooks • If the majority of textbooks needing conversion are identified in a timely manner, coping with last-minute requests is more easily responded to

7. There is no expectation of a prohibition or limitation to adding instructional materials at any time during the quarter; • But there is an expectation that those materials will be made available in an accessible format if needed in a timely fashion

8. How can this happen? • Loading materials onto Blackboard allow students direct access without the need for conversion (if loaded appropriately) • Once all textbooks are converted, the DRC can more easily respond to new requests