Main Takeaways
We can’t have anti-racism, diversity, inclusion, and equity without accessibility
Students don’t need specific accommodations to benefit from more accessible classroom practices
Accessibility includes student as well as instructor and teaching assistant needs
Tangible Changes
Implementing these changes can immediately improve accessibility for everyone
General Course Accessibility
Do not assume the solution to an accessibility issue; work with the student(s) to find out what would work best for them
Remember it can be difficult for students to receive official accommodations due to a multitude of reasons, so the lack of an accommodation does not mean the lack of a need for equitable access (Disabled Academic Collective Twitter Thread)
Make materials available as early as possible, like your syllabus, course readings, and lecture slides
Make your Canvas page as accessible as possible using Canvas’ accessibility suggestions and checklist
Understand the differences between person-first and identity-first language (Liebowitz 2015) and respect students’ preferences
Provide everyone with a way to discuss their needs with you, knowing people will have different preferences like in groups, in one-on-one meetings, through email, or in an anonymous form
Understand the needs of all your students and not just those with approved accommodations
Explain instructor needs like time allowances for responses, unavailable times, or preferred method of communication to create a transparent environment where everyone can communicate more smoothly and manage expectations
Create a transparent environment for TAs to discuss accessibility and accommodations needed; this is important for planning course admin tasks, reacting to sudden changes, and making sure TAs are not overly burdened
Do not require anyone, including yourself, to provide personal information and acknowledge that sometimes someone may not feel comfortable sharing their reason for needing an accommodation
Avoid ableist language like “crazy”, “nuts”, “dumb”, “lame”, “turning a blind eye”, “falling on deaf ears”, as these words carry stigma and can alienate students; instead say what you mean in a more straightforward or literal way
Course Policy Accessibility
Do not ban laptops for in-person classes as many students with disabilities need them even if they do not have an accommodation (Guest Pryal and Jack 2017)
Recognize that strict attendance and limited participation options inequitably and negatively affect disabled students (Ableist Attendance Policies) and inhibit trust between instructors and students
Question whether your policies actually facilitate engagement and learning or instead focus on penalties that impede student success
Choose an equitable and inclusive attendance/participation policy that acknowledges every student will have different abilities to attend classes, whether in-person or remote (Professors should add mental health days into their attendance policies)
Understand the impact COVID and other widespread illnesses have on attendance, not just for everyone but also specifically for students with underlying conditions that they should not be forced to disclose (What the pandemic should have taught us about attendance policies)
Learn about student perspectives on attendance policies, especially after multiple years of remote classes being more accessible to all students (Why is attendance still mandatory in 2021?; Mandatory attendance policies are irrational and ableist)
Acknowledge that every student has a different attendance policy for every class and may have trouble keeping them all straight
Provide multiple ways for students to participate and be graded on participation, like utilizing in-class discussions, online discussions, group work, and individual work, as well as written, video, and audio options
Incorporate low-stakes participation tasks like exit tickets that ask what the student found interesting or challenging about the topic that day
Do not require doctor’s notes or other proof for absences as not all students have equitable access to medical care, they could force students to reveal private information, and they can create more work for students in addition to dealing with their situation and catching up from the absence
Know that missed classes are not “days off”; students who miss a class may be struggling with a disability or illness that prevents them not only from attending class but also from obtaining proof for an absence, catching up on courses, or even just resting and getting better
During Class Accessibility
Always enable captions/transcripts, check auto-captions for accuracy (especially for technical terminology), and only use videos or audio files where reliable captions/transcripts are provided or you can provide them yourself (Video Captions Benefit Everyone; Why Captions are Essential)
Include breaks during long classes for students to get a rest from focusing or socializing
Record class sessions, online and in-person through Zoom, in-person through UCSD’s podcast system, or on your own through another program like PowerPoint; this not only helps students who are absent catch up, it also helps students who need to review with the ability to pause, replay, and slow things down
Check that chairs and desks in your classroom are spaced out enough for ease of movement
Use part of the first day to discuss how your course will actively be accessible, noting anything that you have proactively prepared for like using captions, having asynchronous options, extension allowances, etc., so students do not feel like they have to “out” themselves when asking
Establish rules for classroom discussions that you determine with the class
Include content about how disability studies, rights, and cultures pertain to your class topic
Course Content Accessibility
Review common terminology early in the term, knowing that not all students take the same knowledge away from every class, so not all students enter every class with the same knowledge on the topic
Provide more than one example or explanation for complex concepts, and try to provide information in as many forms as possible
Assume everyone needs to review concepts as it’s rare for only a couple students to not understand something and even those who understand it at a basic level benefit from additional explanations, so reviewing actually helps the entire class to succeed
Linguistics-specific Accessibility
Treemendous for blind and visually-impaired students for syntax tree creation and exploration
A tactile IPA magnet-board system for blind students in phonetics and phonology courses
IPA Braille, instructions for screenreader-friendly IPA fonts, and other resources for blind students and professionals in linguistics, created by Dr. Robert Englebretson
If you have other resources related to accessibility specifically in linguistics courses, contact us with your suggestions.
Other Resources
Handbook for Inclusive Linguistics Teaching from the Linguistics Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Repository (LEDIR)
UCSD Accessibility How-To Guides and Resources
Siteimprove, an online service that systematically reviews your sites for accessibility issues
Ableism 101: What it is, what it looks like, and what we can do to to fix it
Disabled Academic Collective Twitter account and website