Co-authored with Rebecca George-Burrs in collaboration with Khaled Musa
In this post, Academic Technology Support Services (ATSS) consultant Khaled Musa reflects on his own journey to being an accessibility expert and on efforts at the University of Minnesota to advance access and inclusion in courses. Khaled was an undergrad in New York when he lost his vision suddenly. He spent the next few years adjusting to vision loss, learning to use adaptive technology, and discovering a new career path.
How did you come to a career in accessibility?
In 2004 I lost my vision. I learned assistive technology over a period of 3 years so that I could go back and finish my education. When I lost my sight, I was 11 credits away from graduating, but I could not adjust to my vision loss and finish my education. I was going for a bachelor of science in computer science, so technology was easy for me. But it still took me years to adjust to my new life with vision loss and to using technology in a different way.
I eventually went back and finished my education. At the same time, I started working in the vision field. I consulted with organizations that wanted to make their web sites and documents accessible. I helped make online courses accessible for high school students. I got to work with technology instructors, mobility instructors, social workers, and rehab teachers; all these professionals help individuals who have lost their vision gain their independence by building skills, whether cooking at home, navigating the neighborhood, or using technology to do email. All of that experience in the field gave me a good foundation and helped me distinguish between good accessible technology and bad. It helped that I needed things to be accessible - I was motivated. I advocated for myself, and I also advocated for good practices in general for the community.
What is the difference between accessibility and accommodation?
Accessibility is about making sure all students can access course content and engage equally, whether they have a disability or not. Accommodation is knowing that a specific person has a disability, which triggers a legal accommodation and requires making content accessible for that student’s need. There is an overlap between the two: sometimes an accommodation will make course content more accessible to all students. But sometimes the accommodation is very specific and works for that student alone.
We believe that disability is not the distinguishing factor; it’s allowing everybody to participate equally whether they have a disability or not.
Universities take different approaches. Some universities focus solely on accommodation; they put resources toward addressing the needs of individual students. At the University of Minnesota, in addition to addressing accommodations, we believe that accessibility is part of the work that we all do, whether the task is creating a Canvas course, a website, or an email. We prefer to think of accessibility from the beginning and make sure it’s integrated into our work before we receive an accommodation request for a student, teacher, or staff member. We believe that disability is not the distinguishing factor; it’s allowing everybody to participate equally whether they have a disability or not.
What is happening at the University to increase accessibility?
When learning and working at the university, you are always interacting with technology: websites, Canvas courses that might have other tools integrated in them, video conferencing tools, and tools to help with communication, and collaboration, etc. All of the tools that we use in our work and in our teaching have to be made accessible.
Any time we are integrating tools for the purpose of teaching and learning, those tools should be considered for accessibility.
My role in ATSS has allowed the University to emphasize the importance of digital accessibility in the purchasing process. We review tools the University is considering purchasing and make sure that they are as accessible as the vendor claims they are. We report to vendors the issues that prevent them from being fully accessible and follow through with vendors to make sure they are addressing those issues. A more recent milestone in the University's commitment to increase accessibility is happening right now. The Faculty Senate voted unanimously to require all instructors to take the Fundamentals of Disability, Accommodation, and Inclusive Course Design training. Close to 6,000 faculty have a deadline to complete the training by June 18, 2023. Faculty who join the University after that date will be required to take the training as part of their contract. This training reviews accommodation and accessibility situations that instructors commonly face. It also provides examples of how an accommodation request can become a catalyst to make a course site more inclusive and accessible for all students.
What do you want a student coming to the University of Minnesota to know about how we support all students?
I want every student to advocate for better access whether they have a disability or not. If you notice anything we could improve, give that feedback so that we work to make things better. There are lots of ways that you can give feedback: providing feedback on the bottom of a webpage, participating in student usability studies, and giving course feedback.
What is one thing you want faculty to know about to make their courses more accessible?
Make the 7 core skills part of your routine to create better resources and teaching materials. Remember that accessible design helps everyone.
What are some other important University of Minnesota accessibility resources that you want people to know about?
- Accessible U. I want everyone to be aware of the Accessible U website, which was a grassroots community effort. We continue to get feedback from people who access this site from the University and around the world about how the information is beneficial to them.
- Accessibility Ambassadors Google Group. This group of volunteers from around the University come together once a month to discuss important topics around digital accessibility. Anyone can join the Accessibility Ambassadors Google Group to learn about events and ask questions about applying accessible practices in your work.
- Digital Accessibility Badging Program. This free program provides training on digital accessibility: documents, presentations, web pages, Canvas course sites, and PDFs.