Accessibility in the face-to-face (f2f) classroom is an increased concern since in light of several recent OCR decisions and other binding agreements such as Wichita State University’s 2016 agreement with the National Federation of the Blind.
One challenge with f2f accessibility is the lack of vetted standards and regulations. In an effort to improve f2f accessibility on campus, Wichita State has created a number of recommendations and expectations for faculty and other content providers.
One of these expectations is about necessary text size when writing on a board of presenting content on a screen (such as with a PowerPoint presentation). Using ADA sign making standards as a guide, WSU adopted the standard of 1″ high letters for every 10′ of distance between the board/screen and the farthest student in the course.
To aid instructors in gauging necessary text size in each classroom, the university installed text size indicators in each room. On balance, response to these text size indicators has been positive on the Wichita State campus, especially once instructors were provided additional instruction on how to interpret these stickers.
Wichita State makes PhotoShop Document versions of these stickers available as a free resource to any college or university that requests them, and soon these files will be available through the KSARN site. Anyone who would like to make a request to Wichita State may send it to KSARN@wichita.edu.
