Accessibility 101
Welcome to UBC’s accessibility resource for digital content
Accessibility may seem like an overwhelming concept when it is new to you. This website aims to alleviate that feeling and explain accessibility in an approachable way. You and your teaching team can get help in several areas:
With these resources, you can begin to design—or redesign—your online course content to be more accessible to everyone.
Accessibility improvements can improve the learning experience broadly
This website focuses on improving access to digital content for students with vision or hearing impairments and similar learning barriers. While it is a core commitment of UBC to support these students, accessible content can also benefit students coming from other less advantaged contexts.
These examples are a few ways that accessible content can enhance the learning experience for everyone:
Accessible Text
Use of proper headings
- helps students with visual impairments understand the content and its structure and
- makes the content easier for everyone to read and follow, especially students with learning disabilities.
Accessible Images
Alternative text describing an image
- allows students with visual impairments to understand what is represented in the image and
- assists students with slower devices or connections by providing descriptive text in place of images that may not download.
Accessible Videos
Closed captioning for a video
- allows students with hearing impairments to understand what is being said and
- eases challenges for students who speak another language as their first language, are attending class from a noisy place, or might need to watch the video in a quiet environment (e.g., a baby or child sleeping nearby).