3.2 Accessibility
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Understand what accessibility means in regard to OER.
- Create an accessible OER for yourself.
What Does It Mean for OER to Be Accessible?
“The focus of many open education projects is to provide access to education. But what does access mean? If the materials are not accessible for each and every student, do they fulfill the mandate to deliver fully open education? The open education movement has helped people in different parts of the world access content that they would otherwise not be able to view or interact with. Open education resources reduce costs for students and allow for greater flexibility for instructors. Accessibility can help push the movement even further forward.”
As you consider making and building OER, remember to include accessibility in the planning stages and not at the end. Below are some resources that can help you with this.
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The University of British Columbia OER Accessibility Kit
The goal of the OER Accessibility Toolkit is to provide the needed resources needed to each content creator, instructor, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistant to create a truly open and accessible educational resource — one that is accessible for all students.
Note: We strongly recommend that all OER Grant recipients read the Accessibility chapter of the WSU OER Author Guide to learn about accessibility best practices related to grant requirements.
Additional Resources
“OER Accessibility Toolkit” by The University of British Columbia is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
“Open Educational Resources (OER)” by Harvard Graduate School of Education- Gutman Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0