How to Make Digital Learning Resources More Accessible
At a time when many schools are adopting distance learning, the biggest reason why students with disabilities struggle is that online learning resources are designed without accessibility in mind.
Recently, there have been improvements to help students with disabilities access online learning resources to help them learn. As a result, students with disabilities have to make do with what they can find to be able to study. Alternatively, they often turn to professional paper writing services to write my essay for me no plagiarism or online learning portals for additional help.
Here are ways to make online learning resources available for everyone.
Cover All the Bases During Your Research
When doing your research, keep in mind that differences in learning occur. Many teachers put out materials without checking to see if all the kids can access them. Yet, disabilities pose a slight problem because they mean kids will approach learning differently.
Furthermore, remember that your materials must cater to these differences. If teachers cover all their bases during research and content creation, they will realize and prevent the potential flaws in their teaching approach — flaws that could hamper the performance of students.
Caption All Learning Materials
Students with hearing disabilities will not be able to access videos and podcasts unless you go to the extra lengths to caption them. In this case, don’t always seek the easy way out. It is easy to use an AI to caption them, but sometimes the AI will muddle up the words because it is not a precise technology. So, take time to add captions to videos and podcasts to help all students get the best from your resources.
Pay Attention to Color Combination
We often settle for our usual red, green, blue, and others. However, this strategy isolates students with color blindness because they will not be able to differentiate between these colors, resulting in a decline in their learning experience. So, use one of the numerous contrast checkers online to help you when combining colors.
Shorten the ‘Seven by Seven’ Rule
The basic PowerPoint rule states that you should use seven lines in seven slides for every presentation, but this rule is not set in stone. Whatever you have to say in seven drops could be told in six, and what can be in seven lines can be in six bullet points.
For example, students with attention deficit disorders need help concentrating on long presentations. To ensure that these kids understand what you are teaching, make your slides shorter, and make your points a punch.
Use Shorter Descriptive Links
The links to your learning resources should be short and descriptive. This recommendation is helpful for visually-impaired students who may find the links on social media or external sites. They would appreciate a descriptive link to know what to expect from your resource as the TTS engine quotes the URL.
Many paper writing services sites make their URL short and descriptive, which will be read out so that all students can find what they are looking for easier. Such writing platforms go the extra mile and do the same when they want to offer students personalized offers or discounts, for example, like Do My Essay promo code posted on a dedicated review platform.
Use ALT Text for Your Images
Students who have to use a screen reader will only notice essential parts of the lessons if there are proper image descriptions. Use the ALT text to describe the images you use in your resources adequately.
This extra step will make your learning resources more suitable for students with visual impairments. It will also make them feel included and warm up to you more.
Describe Things with Gestures
When pointing at things on the screen, someone with excellent eyesight will already see what you are pointing at, but someone with poor vision won’t. To ensure everyone is on the same page, use gestures to describe simple and complex concepts.
With such a short learning time and so much ground to cover, this can seem like a lot. Nevertheless, the goal is to ensure everyone using your resources gets the lesson.
Disable Auto-Play Features on Your Resources
Auto-play restricts the control students have over learning materials. People with disabilities would like to control the pace at which their learning goes for optimum understanding. Videos with auto-play activated take away that control. Your students should be able to pause, rewind, forward and play videos how they want to. If it is in your power, you should disable auto-play in your videos and let users manually enable them if needed.
Use Accessibility Checkers
Like spellcheckers, accessibility checkers help you see where your content may lack important accessibility markers. Refrain from restricting these checkers to just when you are done preparing your material. Use them religiously to ensure that your resources are not leaving students with disabilities out.
Give Them a Voice
It is not enough to make online materials accessible to everyone. You must ensure that everyone else does the same for students with disabilities.
This starts by encouraging a learning atmosphere where students provide support systems for helping one another. Encourage students with disabilities to participate more in class, and foster a culture of respect in your digital classroom.
Conclusion
Students with disabilities deserve equal chances at success, which sometimes means the teachers have to do extra to carry them along. It is not enough to be sympathetic to the difference between these kids. You must get involved to ensure that that difference does not hold them back. The methods listed above will help you make online learning resources accessible to students with disabilities.