Recent university agreements and Office for Civil Rights consent decrees dealing with accessibility have defined instructors as “all individuals who provide course-related instruction to … students….” This means students in many classes may need to be creating certain assignments in accessible ways. For example student speeches and presentations given to the class, online videos, and documents that are distributed to other students could all be subject to accessibility standards.
In order to help train students in accessible content creation and distribution, Wichita State University is offering a series of free, student-facing accessibility training opportunities. WSU invites any interested colleges and universities to send their students through these trainings.
Here are the details:
- These short trainings are created in an online learning management system called LearnDash and can be accessed through the Kansas Accessibility Resources Network (KSARN).
- Each course is designed to take no more than an hour and culminates with a quiz that can be taken up to three times before the course must be repeated.
- To access the content, students must sign up for a free KSARN account, but sign up is quick and easy.
- Students who successfully complete the quiz with a score of 85% or higher will automatically receive a certificate of completion. This certificate can be printed as evidence of completion.
- These courses are designed to take the burden of providing accessibility training to students off faculty and to make sure students do not need to repeat training which they have already completed.
The content in these free courses is designed to be useful to students, but faculty may find it helpful as well. The training is free for everyone.
