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Accessibility needs

This page lists examples of adjustments I have made to teaching practice to ensure it is accessible for people with different needs. This list is definitely not exhaustive and I encourage you to let me know if there are other reasonable adjustments I should make to enable you to learn. 

Please note that I employ many of these adjustments on a regular basis regardless of whether a student has specifically requested them, and my approach to learning design is informed by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. 

Adjustment examples

Mobility

Providing information about venue access, ensuring venues are wheelchair accessible and/or accessible to people with mobility impairments, arranging rooms and equipment for freedom of movement, altering activities to limit the requirement to move.

Visual/hearing

Providing transcripts, providing lesson slides (before or after sessions), describing images and graphics, recording lesson content, using a microphone, arranging seating plans, teaching from a specified location in the room.

Cognitive

Slide design suited to different cognitive needs, providing additional materials or providing session materials before sessions, structuring for additional breaks, avoiding certain kinds of activities/material/content.

Social

Structuring group activities to enable participants with social anxiety to remain with a 'safe person', providing warnings about specific types of activities (e.g., "we'll be working in groups to discuss a reading today"), providing breaks, providing options for working individually when appropriate, ensuring a seating arrangement allows students to work with people with whom they're comfortable, providing specific social cues and instructions to ensure students know what's expected.

Language & literacy

Explaining key terms and jargon in plain English, encouraging the use of translation devices, providing glossaries, using specific fonts for slides and workshop materials. 

Trauma-informed practices

Using content or trigger warnings, designating 'quiet' or 'rest' spaces, using a card system (e.g., red/yellow/green) to allow students to indicate their needs for a break or to move on from a topic, harm-minimising facilitation techniques when working with difficult topics.

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