Building Accessibility Into the Way We Teach

When an accessibility issue appears in a Brightspace course, it may take more than one kind of expertise to solve it. The cause could be a course setting, how an instructor added content, or a problem with the technology itself. At the U of A, the University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology (UCATT) and the Disability Resource Center (DRC) work through those questions together and, equally importantly, use what they learn to help prevent the next issue.

Their partnership reaches well beyond troubleshooting. It shapes how teaching tools are evaluated, how instructors are trained and how accessibility becomes part of building a course.

Growing Together

Dawn Hunziker, associate director at the DRC, has worked with UCATT and its predecessor teams for much of her 29 years at the University of Arizona. As teaching moved online, the teams learned together how to support instructors and improve access to course materials.

“We’ve grown up together,” said Hunziker. “Accessibility is part of the process. It’s not an ‘oh, and by the way’ approach. It’s part of course creation. ”

That principle carries into UCATT’s work with instructors. Staff can help address an immediate concern while showing how a different approach, such as adding meaningful alternative text to an image, can improve future course materials, too.

Finding Solutions Together

UCATT and the DRC work together to investigate accessibility concerns in Brightspace and other teaching tools. They look at course settings, how content was added, and whether the issue lies with a vendor’s product. Both teams can then bring what they learn to vendor conversations.

“We partner to figure out a solution,” Hunziker said. “We learn from each other.”

That exchange helps the teams give instructors practical guidance. It also means an instructor who reaches one office can benefit from the knowledge of both.

Accessibility From the Start

Accessibility now enters the review process earlier when instructors propose new technology for a UCATT pilot. These focused pilots gather feedback and data that allow UCATT to make informed decisions about adoption. DRC accessibility consultant Jeff Bishop serves on the pilot review committee, helping identify concerns before the university invests time and resources in testing a tool.

Amor Moran, UCATT director of instructional technologies, said Bishop’s input changed how the team evaluates proposals. “It was eye-opening,” she said. “It changed the lens in which we were reviewing these pilots. I don’t think we ever would have had that had Jeff not been part of that committee.” 

The review helps UCATT ask vendors more specific questions and consider accessibility alongside a tool’s teaching potential.

Turning Tools into Useful Guidance

The partnership continues after a tool is introduced. Hunziker and Moran described the work across DRC, UCATT’s technology team and instructional designers to implement YuJa Panorama in Brightspace and help instructors use its accessibility information. They are also helping instructors understand the accessibility information it provides and decide what to do with their course reports.

For Moran, connecting those groups is central to UCATT’s role.

“We do a lot of facilitating,” Moran said. “It’s just connecting people. … The technology becomes what threads through our different groups so that we can get together and have a conversation.”

For Hunziker, the partnership works because accessibility is a shared responsibility across UCATT, not a question left for one person to raise. Staff bring the DRC into conversations early, and both teams contribute what they know to support instructors. That steady collaboration turns accessibility from a problem to address after a course is built into a consideration that shapes it from the beginning and gives more students the chance to participate fully.