Building a more inclusive environment isn't just about focusing on accessibility. It requires a broader focus that includes recognizing different needs and abilities when delivering course curriculum and content. To meet students where they are, instead of simply making accommodations.
The right technology can extend access to course materials and provide high-quality experiences to all students by removing barriers. It can create a more inclusive culture by enabling instructors to design materials with the needs of those who matter most in mind: the students.
Be Proactive - Collect consistent feedback on your content’s accessibility, quality and usability, and monitor its successes and areas for improvement. Stay focused on your educational and institutional goals and let the technology shape strategies that help move you forward.
Incorporate Feedback - Leverage feedback to create opportunities for your content creators to remediate and improve their content, while at the same time improving the experience for all students by providing a variety of options that they can interact with.
Prioritize & Act - Determine your overall performance to simplify your improvement process into a linear plan of action. Use this new insight to make prioritization clear and simple, and align with your programs' accessibility standards. Accessible content leads to better content.
Even when disabilities have been disclosed and accommodations made, an experience gap remains, and students with disabilities are less likely to successfully complete their higher education than their peers. Learn how an inclusive classroom also results in an improved learning experience for all learners.
As various kinds of tools and media flow into the LMS via LTI, universities face a growing challenge in managing a “wild-west” of applications and content. Standards will play a crucial role in being able to assess and monitor the accessibility levels of applications and content residing in the LMS.
Courses that heavily rely on technology for communicating and interacting with students can be very challenging to those that use assistive technologies. Aaron Page, an accessibility specialist at the University of Montana talks about our partnership in the development of Blackboard Collaborate and the use of the system on campus.
Insights & Resources
Inclusive education and digital access: Is your institution on top of it? Highlights from Blackboard’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day. 
Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act was just one step on the journey toward inclusivity. The webinar discusses the current landscape of regulations and support for persons with disabilities and where we are headed next in education and employment. 
Tools like in-class surveys are common as instructors look to keep students engaged and attentive. Read practical advice on how to approach inclusive education and key things you need to consider when building a truly inclusive classroom through technology, course design and practice.
Thanks to advances in educational technology, we are seeing an increased demand for more options and more flexibility when it comes to how students learn. Using inclusivity, sustainability and automation as its key pillars, Blackboard Ally integrates seamlessly into the Learning Management System and the workflows that students and instructors already use to help make digital course content more accessible.
Blackboard Ally is a revolutionary product that integrates seamlessly into the Learning Management System and focuses on making digital course content more accessible.
