By Gabriella Ezeani
It’s term time. You have an important project to complete and, as a connected learner, parts of your project need to be completed virtually. You have an idea of the online tools you want to use or the types of fonts you want to use throughout the project. Minor but important considerations about how you communicate your research results effectively. Before you begin the project, one of your project team members informs you that he/she/they has a learning disability. You have never thought about how to consider the accessibility of all your big ideas. Yes, they’re cool and extremely functional, but are they accessible to everyone?
Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not
And the question of accessibility as a retrospective reflection can be explained by the “social model of disability”. The social model of disability argues that disability is caused by the way society is organized, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. The model therefore looks at ways to remove barriers that limit the life choices of persons with disabilities. When these barriers are removed, persons with disabilities can be independent and equal in society, with choice and control over their own lives.
As humans, we all have a role to play to ensure inclusive learning and a responsibility to always be considerate of others in every situation. So, here are five guiding considerations from a student with a disability to other students.
Guiding Considerations
- Try and anticipate the needs of others
- Always check a product’s accessibility guide
- Be proactive and engage with learning resources on varied impairments
- Remember, your reaction to their declaration of their impairment says a lot. Be empathetic.
- If you are not certain, feel free to ask your departmental staff
To help you further, feel free to check out other blogs written by connected learning interns