Supporting Ksu English Instructors In Meeting The Access Needs Of Deaf And Hard And Hearing Students, Kris Roberson

Master's Projects

The lack of instructors prepared to work with deaf and hard of hearing (DHOH) students in higher education causes course accessibility barriers (Palmer et al., 2019; National Deaf Center [NDC] of Postsecondary Outcomes, n.d) and increased stress for students and instructors (Valle-Flórez et al., 2021; Salko, 2023). These obstacles inhibit DHOH student graduation rates and workforce entry (Garberoglio, 2019). Instructors require more training to effectively support DHOH students with best practices beyond basic accommodations. This qualitative research study presents phenomenological data from six interviews conducted with participants from one large, southeastern, R2 public university (Kennesaw State University, [KSU]) and one …

Making (Applied) Sport Management Accessible, Adam William Love

Journal of Applied Sport Management

The Applied Sport Management Association’s Distinguished Service and Mentorship Award was initiated in 2022 as a renaming and repurposing of the ASMA Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award presented from 2009 to 2020. This service and mentorship award recognizes an ASMA member who has exhibited continued, exemplary service to ASMA, who connects sport management research with practitioners in an applied manner, and who demonstrates dedication to students and mentorship within the ASMA. Recipients of this award provide a keynote address to the ASMA membership at the annual conference. The content of this address is published in the Journal of Applied Sport Management …

Understanding Faculty Experiences In Implementing Accessible Course Design Strategies, Stacy Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Faculty who have experience working with individuals with disabilities are likely to have positive feelings about accessibility however, that does not always lead to faculty adoption of accessible course design practices. A gap existed in academic research about what was known of faculty experiences in the implementation of accessible course design practices at a 4-year university in the Midwest. Exploring faculty experience gave insight to future programming needs. Guided by Mezirow’s transformational learning theory, this qualitative project study explored faculty experiences while implementing accessible course design practices to improve access for students with disabilities. Sixteen faculty participated in 1:1 interviews …

Accessible Autonomy: Exploring Inclusive Autonomous Vehicle Design And Interaction For People Who Are Blind And Visually Impaired, Paul D. S. Fink

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous vehicles are poised to revolutionize independent travel for millions of people experiencing transportation-limiting visual impairments worldwide. However, the current trajectory of automotive technology is rife with roadblocks to accessible interaction and inclusion for this demographic. Inaccessible (visually dependent) interfaces and lack of information access throughout the trip are surmountable, yet nevertheless critical barriers to this potentially lifechanging technology. To address these challenges, the programmatic dissertation research presented here includes ten studies, three published papers, and three submitted papers in high impact outlets that together address accessibility across the complete trip of transportation. The first paper began with a thorough …

Surveilling The Web, Mobile, And Language Accessibility Of Communication’S Digital Presence Within Institutions Of Higher Education Globally, Alicia M. Mason, Elizabeth A. Spencer, Megan C. Westhoff, Kristen M. Livingston, Josh Compton

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This study aims to understand the general web accessibility of digital information networks which may serve as barriers for access to the global discipline of Communication through institutional and departmental websites, specifically for persons with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency (LEP). Our exploratory content analysis relies on computer-aided software to systematically analyze the departmental home pages of websites of institutional members of the International Communication Association (ICA), N = 77, representing 26 countries, globally. Findings from this study help us to: (1) better understand the general web, language, and mobile accessibility of discipline-related online information; (2) identify strengths …

Physical Accessibility And Historic Preservation In Historic House Museums Of The Southeast, Abby Milonas

All Theses

Museums are a public good, as they provide educational recreation and preserve cultural history, and so it is crucial that they are physically accessible to as many visitors as possible. The aim of this study was to understand what architectural features of historic house museums are the least accessible and what has been done to ameliorate these challenges. The survey used in the study was developed using the guidelines for making historic buildings accessible as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards. It was distributed by email to representatives of 220 historic sites, of …

Increasing Access And Success In Online Education For Students With Disabilities, William H. Snow, Karen M. Roller, Wendy Wade, Jared W. Snow

Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision

Counselor educators are legally and ethically required to support individuals with disabilities in their courses. While this presentation focuses on visual and auditory impairments, all students benefit when accommodations and adaptations support a wide range of learning styles. The authors provide web accessibility principles and guidelines and operationalize practical suggestions for coursework. Off-the-shelf assistive technologies are readily available to support learners. Educators are encouraged to test course materials using assistive technologies to better understand how students with disabilities experience their courses.

Accessibility Of Blended Learning For Special Needs Students In Higher Education, Reem Yaseen Al-Sulaimani

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated the experiences of visually impaired students and their faculty members with blended learning at University X. Qualitative research methods were employed to gather data through interviews with six visually impaired students and six professors. The study analyzed the data using two frameworks, Universal Design of Learning (UDL) and Community of Inquiry (CoI). The findings indicate that the course design, personalization of accessibility, social inclusion and classroom dynamics, university support and resources, and technology accessibility and digital literacy have an impact on the experiences of visually impaired students and their professors. The study provides recommendations for improving the …

The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education: A Study On Faculty Perspectives In Universities In Egypt, Farah S. Sharawy

Theses and Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that is transforming various aspects of society, including higher education. This paper examines faculty perspectives from five different institutions; The American University in Cairo (AUC), The German University in Cairo (GUC), The Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST), Ain Shams University, and Cairo University, on the use of AI in higher education in teaching and learning in Egypt, with all its challenges and resources available to support it, and how it can be used to achieve equity and accessibility. This research was conducted through a qualitative study using semi-structured one- on-one interviews …

Textbook Affordability At Smith College: Affirming Smith's Commitment To Creating An Inclusive, Equitable And Accessible Educational Community, Natalie Laroche

Other Student Projects

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s (PIRG) Education Fund, notes that “in 2020, 65 percent of students surveyed reported skipping buying a textbook because of cost” (Vitez & Nagle, n.d.). The costs of course materials are rising at astronomical rates. According to the Student PIRGs, “the cost of textbooks and course materials has increased at three times the rate of inflation since the 1970s” (Xie, 2023). Textbooks are unnecessarily expensive and are increasingly a barrier to education access and student success. Extensive research has demonstrated that while publishers can get away with (and profit off of) high prices, students who …

What’S The Goal: Increasing Sports Opportunities For Youth From Low Socioeconomic Communities, Nayeli Sandoval Gallo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone Project is researching and learning about accessibility, availability, and affordability for low-income families to enroll their children in sports. This is an important issue for families and children because sports impact youth’s lives in a positive way. An argument is made that children at an early age have significant outcomes for general health and physical well-being. The primary stakeholder perspectives chosen were coaches, students, parents, and educators because they are all part of a child’s educational journey and childhood experiences. After interviewing administrators, teachers, and students three different action options were thoroughly discussed to enhance …

Collaboration Between Occupational Therapists And Architects To Incorporate Universal Design To Increase Accessibility, Michelle C. L. Hoff, Susan Macdermott

Spring 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The design of the built environment plays a key role in occupational participation. When the built environment is poorly designed, it severely limits accessibility for an individual with a disability. In contrast, when the built environment is well designed, it can support the occupational performance of individuals of all ages and abilities. Interprofessional collaboration between occupational therapists and architects can improve environmental barriers to occupational participation within home and community settings. Interprofessional collaboration between occupational therapists and architects has involved direct input through consultations, interprofessional education experiences, and the formation of interprofessional organizations. However, barriers to interprofessional collaboration have included …

Promoting Skills In Children And Teens With Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Play And Steam, Meaghan Mcleod Mozingo, Krzysztof J. Rechowicz

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a low employment rate. This is caused by a lack of support from employment resources and the negative stigma associated with common characteristics associated with ASD. With limited career-building activities and events, it is difficult for individuals with ASD to identify their skills, strengths, and career opportunities. Parental support is crucial when seeking employment opportunities for their children. Through the use of play, children with ASD engaged and explored their skills with science, technology, engineering, arts, and math-centered activities. This paper highlights the events and shows the proposed redesign for an additional workshop.

Unlocking The Doors To Engagement And Accessibility: A Curriculum Development For Second Grade Learners In Social Studies, Jeanette Mcnair

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The goal of this project is to create a second-grade Social Studies curriculum that increases engagement and provides accessibility to all students. The intent is to pull from the instructional frameworks of Universal Design for Learning developed by CAST, Project-Based Learning by The Buck Institute and differentiation by Carol Ann Tomlinson. The following research question was used to propel forward the goal of this project: How can a second grade Social Studies unit unlock student engagement and universal accessibility by applying three educational frameworks? This question was answered by literature research on the topics of engagement and accessibility followed by …

From Daunting To Doable: A Practical Approach To Building Inclusive Libguides, Jennifer Elder

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a pedagogical approach that many universities promote to their teaching faculty to help them design courses that are accessible to all learners. After librarians at our library took a course on Universal Design for Learning, we asked, how could we apply Universal Design for Learning principles to create more inclusive LibGuides? At first, we were overwhelmed by the wide range of possible accessibility and UDL features that we could incorporate into our LibGuides. We wondered if there might be a way to identify or prioritize effective UDL elements to include in a LibGuide. We …

Accessible Online Learning: A Preliminary Investigation Of Educational Technologists’ And Faculty Members’ Knowledge And Skills, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Amy Lomellini

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Colleges and Universities have a more diverse student body than ever before—this includes a growing number of students with disabilities. Many of these students are attracted to the flexibility and anonymity of learning online. However, research suggests that students with disabilities often face barriers learning online. Given this, we set out to investigate how faculty and educational technologists are prepared to design accessible online courses and instructional materials. We surveyed 95 educational technologists, directors, and disability access personnel in this exploratory study. In the following paper, we report the results of our inquiry into these professionals’ perspectives on faculty and …

A Survey Of Universal Design At Museums: Current Industry Practice And Perceptions, Jennifer K. Fortuna, Kayleigh Thomas, Jenna Asper, Laura Matney, Kyra Chase, Stephanie Ogren, Julia Vandermolen

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Museums are key educational and cultural resources in the community, yet many are not accessible to visitors with disabilities. Universal design promotes products and environments usable to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of ability. This study explores current industry practice and perceptions of accessibility and universal design in a small sample of American museums. Suggestions for how occupational therapists can help museums go above and beyond ADA guidelines are provided.

Method: An 17-item cross-sectional survey was used to collect data. Twenty-five museum associations assisted with recruitment. A descriptive numerical summary and qualitative analysis were …

Communication Scholarship And The Quest For Open Access, Preston Carmack, Michael R. Kearney, Abbey Mccann

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The advent of black, green, and gold open access publication models poses unique questions for scholars of communication. Plato’s (1956) classic critique of writing in the legend of Theuth and Thamus warned that the printed word “rolls about all over the place, falling into the hands of those who have no concern with it” (pp. 69–70). More than two 2 millennia later, scholars and administrators at all levels of the discipline face just such a phenomenon. As scholars of cyberspace debate whether “information wants to be free” (Levy, 2014), a communication perspective involves consideration of the importance of authorship and …

Building Coleus Academy, Janessa Unseld

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Coleus Academy, a nonprofit e-learning platform, has been created to address the deficits left by the de-emphasis and, at times, outright omission of practical skill-centric education in American curriculums. There exists a gap between the degree of knowledge necessary to engage with adult life and the extent of that knowledge that is actually possessed by emerging adults. Prominent legislations are among the numerous efforts to address this issue. However, there is a deeply fractured market where resources are proving too expensive, too sparse, or hyper-specific to the point of limited usability. Compounded with disparities in when, where, and to whom …

Cause For Complaint: A Case Study Exploring Office For Civil Rights Complaints And Resolutions Related To Digital Accessibility At Public Colleges And Universities, Helen Gema Muñiz Bermudez

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

As the number of students with disabilities pursuing postsecondary opportunities continues to grow, along with an increase in digital educational content and technology, the issue of digital accessibility becomes increasingly urgent - both as a matter of equity and access for disabled students and as a matter of social and fiscal responsibility for postsecondary institutions. When postsecondary institutions fail to meet the requirements of disability legislation, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is the federal entity responsible for enforcement and complaint investigations, handling hundreds of complaints related to digital accessibility at postsecondary institutions since 2013. There …

Instructional Designers' Perceptions Of The Practice Of Instructional Design In A Post-Pandemic Workplace, Donna Petherbridge, Michelle Bartlett, Jessica White, Diane Chapman

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

This article explores instructional designers’ perceptions of changes to instructional design practice in a post-pandemic workplace. A thematic analysis of interviews conducted with 33 instructional designers revealed that instructional designers believe that the profession is profoundly altered post-pandemic. Findings around post-pandemic instructional design practice include adopting agile instructional design practices, increasing collaborations with others within a context of empathy, recognizing the importance of accessibility, and increasing reliance on technology to deliver both instruction and training within the context of an expanded portfolio of how instruction will be delivered in the future.

Designing For Accessibility In Online Learning: A Design Case, Mohan Yang, Victoria Lowell, Yishi Long, Tadd Farmer

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Despite laws in the United States (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its 2008 Amendments), students with various disabilities continue to experience access barriers to instructional content and inclusion in course activities. Online learning environments can present especially challenging circumstances for disabled students despite the advantages they could potentially bring. In this article, we present the design and development of three self-paced e-learning modules following a three-phased design process to prepare instructional design students to create accessible online learning content. The instructional design planning and development process can provide …

Readability Of Australian Road Safety Information For The General Public, Catherine Ferguson, Stephen Winn

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This research was conducted as a result of the authors becoming aware of the Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) submission to the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. The ACRS submission outlined six key elements, one of which suggested that the National Road Safety Strategy should include ‘Publication in easily consumable form, for the public, of infrastructure safety star ratings for all road users’ (ACRS, 2021, p.61). This prompted the researchers to consider the road safety information provided to the general public about driving behaviour. Forty excerpts from online data from one Australian State’s road safety website were assessed for …

Accessibility Of University Course Syllabi, Steven M. Baule, Sara A. Fister

Essays in Education

Over the last twenty years, governments and a range of disability rights organizations have advocated for increased accessibility to educational materials and school documents for people with disabilities. Recently, several studies have shown that accessibility is still lagging among educational institutions and other government agencies. The purpose of this study was to analyze extant higher education syllabi to determine the level of compliance with the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). The study reviewed the current accessibility requirements for schools under WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended in 2018. It then provides a review …

Accessible And Inclusive Online Course Design In Higher Education, Amy Lomellini

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The growth of online learning has expanded the reach of higher education to more diverse students than ever before; however, students often face barriers to equitable access to online instructional materials, course activities, and assessments. The challenge of meeting the needs of diverse learners was both highlighted and exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid shift to remote teaching and learning at many institutions. Disabled students were one group that was particularly affected. Research has explored faculty and students’ (with and without disabilities) perceptions of online learning; however, less is known about instructional designers’ and their team leaders’ roles …

Increasing Accessibility To Academic Library Services With Alt Text, Color Contrast, Captioning, And Transcripts In Youtube Tutorials, Barbara M. Pope, Gloria F. Creed-Dikeogu

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

Accessibility of library resources and services in academic libraries is fundamental to serving the discovery and scholarship needs of students and faculty, regardless of disability status. Equitable access in higher education affects student grades and retention, and within the library, involves making library buildings, video tutorials, library instruction, the website, Libguides, and resources accessible to students. Accessibility is vital for disabled students to obtain a college degree. It complies with federal law while improving access to education for all students, such as English as a second language students, undiagnosed disabled students, and students with different learning styles. This article focuses …

Are We Prepared? Analyzing Active Shooter Policy Accessibility In New Jersey Institutions Of Higher Education, William G. Petrovey

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The research in this dissertation was conducted to measure the accessibility, presentation, and format of active shooter protocol for college faculty and staff at institutions of higher education in the state of New Jersey. The study further explores the need for availability of active shooter policy given the unfortunate growing problem of active shooters taking place at institutions of higher education across the country. Since the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the New Jersey Ccampus Ssecurity Ttask Fforce [AS1] made recommendations to then Governor Corzine’s administration. Institutions of higher education have since embraced active shooter protocol from various source materials …

Examination Of Ableist Educational Systems And Structures That Limit Access To Engineering Education Through Narratives, Marissa Tsugawa, Brady Webster, Sakshi Solanki, Autumn Cuellar, Catherine Mcgough Spence

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

The purpose of this paper is to examine how higher education systems limit access to engineering education for disabled and neurodivergent engineering students. Throughout this paper we will discuss ableism in higher education systems. Particularly, U.S. institutions and education are designed for non-disabled and neurotypical people rather than with accessibility for all despite legal efforts to improve access to education. We also provide two narratives from the authors that describe their experiences with having a disability and being neurodivergent in engineering education. Finally, we suggest other paradigms and methodologies engineering education researchers can utilize when conducting research on disability and …

Financial Literacy: A Case Study On Current Practices, Briana Lee Hammontree

Masters Theses

In the last few years, the concern for financial illiteracy among teenagers has only grown as the economy has shifted. Many teenagers feel unprepared and unsecured moving forward with their finances as adults. This issue is intensified further among low-income and marginalized youths who deal with additional hardship in their lives. Accessibility is a huge issue among teenagers and the role of financial literacy of their lives in education is often predetermined by government officials and policies they can only really advocate for change for but cannot vote on. In this research I explore the concept of utilizing social innovation …

Accessible Learning Resources And Guidelines Handbook, Accessible Learning, Centre For Equity And Inclusion

Resources

This document for faculty of Sheridan contains copies of the Academic Accommodation procedures and policies, answers frequently asked questions, and provides examples of common academic accommodations. Resources such as memory aid sheet examples are included.