Training & FAQ

The UBC Disability Accommodation Policy LR7 requires UBC to create accessible learning environments that enable all students to meet the essential requirements of their courses. You are legally required to support this policy by making any accommodations that the Centre for Accessibility (UBC Vancouver) or Disability Resource Centre (UBC Okanagan) determine are necessary for students in your course.

Rather than wait for a formal accommodation request, you are encouraged to proactively make accessibility improvements. This approach can prevent undue stress for yourself and your students at the time of a request, while potentially benefiting students coming from other less advantaged contexts.

The Centre for Accessibility (UBC Vancouver) and Disability Resource Centre (UBC Okanagan) facilitate academic accommodation for students who have a documented disability or ongoing medical condition that impacts their access to or engagement with activities.

These centres will provide students with a letter to explain their required accommodations to their instructors. This letter may include accommodations such as:

• receiving course content in alternative formats (e.g., a braille textbook),
• viewing sign-language interpretation of course content,
• accessing assistive technology, or
• using alternate exam arrangements.

If a student has complex accommodations, these centres may reach out to instructors in advance of the term.

You can learn more about UBC accommodations for students with disabilities on the Student Services website for faculty.

Accessibility considerations may vary depending on course context. If full vision or hearing is required to meet some or all of your core course competencies, certain accessibility considerations may not apply. For example, in a course focused on detailed visual evaluation of art, you may not need to add alternative text to images.

For the purposes of accessibility, your course content includes anything that you link to, such as YouTube videos, archived articles, and learning activities on other websites. When selecting these sources, try to find the most accessible version that you can. For instance, when choosing a YouTube video, opt for one with closed captioning if available.

The time required to improve the accessibility of your course depends on several factors: how much of each type of content that you use, the number of issues that you need to address, and your previous accessibility / technical experience. For some courses, the suggested improvements will be minimal; for others, they may take significant time.

The best way to get a sense for the time commitment is to try fixing a few different types of content. You may find that many issues can be resolved relatively quickly, once you learn what you need to do and what accessibility tools can help you.

Accessibility improvements add secondary layers of design and explanation to the content, enabling students to learn regardless of any vision or hearing impairments. Not improving accessibility may limit or prevent access to your content, hindering learning for these students.

A good way to test the impact of your changes is to try a screen reader yourself. On Windows, you can use the built-in screen reader Narrator; on Mac, you can use the built-in screen reader VoiceOver.

Even if you do not currently have students with documented vision or hearing impairments in your course, improving accessibility proactively is still good practice:

• It can save time and stress for you and your students. If most of your content is ready for a variety of students to engage, there will be less to do—and less delay—when an accommodation is needed for a specific student.
• It can improve the learning experience for students coming from other less advantaged contexts. For example, students who must attend class from a high-traffic or noisy place can take advantage of closed captioning.

First, make sure you are using the paid Adobe Acrobat Pro—not the free Adobe Acrobat Reader—to edit the PDF. All UBC faculty and staff can access Adobe Acrobat Pro for a yearly subscription fee.

If you are still unable to access these features, the specific PDF you are trying to edit may have editing restrictions applied. You can try to remove these restrictions, if you have the password for the file:

1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
2. Click File in the top menu and select Document Properties.
3. Click the Security tab and set the security method to No Security.
4. Enter the password, then you will be able to edit the file.

Generally, it is best to avoid using tables for layout. Screen readers will try to read the table as tabular content, rather than recognizing it as a way to visually present the content.

However, if you determine that a table is necessary for layout and you using on online, HTML-based table, follow these guidelines:

• Add code to the table that notes its use for layout. You can do this by modifying the opening <table> tag to include the attribute role="presentation", e.g., <table role="presentation">. Screen readers should read the table’s content in the order that it appears in the code, rather than reading it as a table.
• Make sure that the content's order in the code makes sense for someone to read as organized. If it does not, re-organize the content into more logical table cells.

For complex visuals (such as diagrams, charts, and graphs) that require more lengthy description, provide a brief overview in the alternative text and make the full description available elsewhere. Here are several methods for adding a long description, considering the visual's complexity:

• Text-based descriptions: Use the image caption feature, if available, to add a corresponding long description. An image caption is text that typically appears below the image. In the alt text, note where the detailed description is located (e.g., "Sales performance chart. Detailed description in the caption below.").
• Formatted descriptions: For descriptions requiring formatting (e.g., lists, tables), create a section below the visual with a heading, followed by the corresponding long description. In the alt text, direct users to this section (e.g., "Sales performance chart. Described under the heading 'Sales Performance in 2024 - Full Descriptions'.").
• Web-based image descriptions: For web images, use the HTML5 <figure role="group"> and <figcaption> tags to group the visual and its corresponding description for screen readers.
• Extensive descriptions: If the description is lengthy, place it on a separate page (e.g., appendix). In the alt text, mention where the description can be found, or provide a link in the image caption if the option is available.

Whichever method you choose, clearly indicate where the long description can be found in the alternative text.

Every course may have content that is difficult or even impossible to improve, whether for technical or pedagogical reasons. It’s okay to leave content as-is when needed. You can always return to address more complex accessibility issues later. The Centre for Accessibility (UBC Vancouver) or Disability Resource Centre (UBC Okanagan) will help you ensure that affected students can still meet the essential requirements of your course.

Please contact Mark Goodwin, User Experience and Digital Accessibility Librarian, at mark.goodwin@ubc.ca.

Interactive course content—such as learning activities designed with H5P—can become complicated to make accessible. Because the interactivity is added automatically, it can be difficult for you to add secondary layers for accessibility.

The following questions can help determine if accessibility may be an issue:

• Is there text that can't be selected?
• Are there elements that move or have to be manipulated?
• Is important audio included?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you do not need to remove or modify these learning activities. The best way you can prepare for accessibility is to make sure that you have fair alternatives for any students who cannot participate.

Please see the H5P Accessibility Guide by Libre Studio for more information.

You can learn how to add extra time or extra attempts for students who require it in the UBC Canvas instructor guide.

If you are working with course content that includes numbers, symbols, or complicated diagrams, Niagara College's Accessibility Hub offers a good starting point to make STEM content accessibility.

If you are making proactive accessibility improvements yourself:

• Contact your faculty’s Instructional Support Unit as your first point of contact.
• Contact the Learning Technology Hub for further assistance:
  604 827 4775 or LT.hub@ubc.ca or visit the LT Hub online.

If you are making accessibility improvements required for an accommodation:

• For UBC Vancouver, contact the Centre for Accessibility.
• For UBC Okanagan, contact the Disability Resource Centre.