Accessible Distance Education for Postsecondary Teaching
A program of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
With the numbers of distance education classes increasing, Disability Support Services faces unique challenges in making online videostreams fully accessible for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Students’ on-line experience must be as accessible as if the student were sitting on campus in a classroom. Making videostreams accessible for students who are deaf or hard of hearing is complicated, requiring planning, technology, expertise, funding, and collaboration. It is complicated, but we have done it!
The staff at DSS and STaR at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have come up with a method to provide videostreams that show the instructor and PowerPoint, interpreter, and scrolling captions all on one screen (see example below). This makes the videostreams accessible for hard of hearing students, as well as students who use American Sign Language. The feedback we have received from students so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
In Spring 2004, we received funding from the distance education technology fees, enabling us to greatly expand our efforts and resources under a new project called Project ADEPT: Accessible Distance Education for Postsecondary Teaching. A filming studio is being set up to facilitate filming of sign language interpreters, and staff has been hired to transcribe online videostreams and create and post the accessible versions.
With this funding, Project ADEPT will provide DSS the framework for using technology in innovative ways to provide full access for all our students.
For more information contact:
Sharon Downs, Project Leader
501.569.3217 sadowns@ualr.edu