OER Starter Guide: Accessibility and Usability

The SAC works with faculty, staff, and students with disabilities to remove barriers to academic success and make courses and course materials more accessible. The center has a number of guides and suggested tools for instructors and learners. To make certain your OER or any course material is accessible, contact the SAC at accessprint@ku.edu.

KU Libraries has some equipment for instructor and student use to make course materials more accessible.

KU Information Technology developed a checklist for KU websites that presents basic, fundamental principles for creating on the web.

Members of the OER community collaboratively researched this guide of recommended practices and checklists for many aspects of OER creation, including accessibility

The University of British Columbia assembled this toolkit of recommended practices for creating accessible OER. It also includes an overview of universal design.

A compilation of resources for using person-first language and eliminating handicapping language from KU’s Research and Training Center on Independent Living.

NLS has a number of guides for accessible books and education as well as tool recommendations.

The Association of College & Research Libraries Community and Junior College Libraries Section OER Committee held an overview of OER accessibility tips and recommendations. Included is a tutorial in making Word documents accessible and plenty of helpful references.

Tacoma Community College Libraries created a longer presentation and handouts for those familiar with Universal Design and wishing to integrate these pedagogical practices into their OER.

A number of academic institutions have collaborated to create a common space to share OER designed for folks with print disabilities. Search the EMMA catalogue for existing OER to adopt or remix.

You can evaluate the accessibility of your OER by entering the URL on WAVE’s website or download the Chrome or Safari browser extensions.

KU’s Student Access Center provides tips for implementing captioned video into instruction and resources for getting existing media captioned.

A Lawrence transcription company that could transcribe audio files to make OER accessible. Contact Ad Astra for pricing information.

CCNY Libraries created a guide with tutorials for a variety of tools, including Dragon Naturally Speaking and JAWS, and tips for creating accessible OER.