(188c) 10 Tips to Make Your Course More Accessible and Inclusive to Disabled Students

Accessible chemical engineering education is hindered for disabled students by systemic ableism. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 mandated equal access to postsecondary institutions for disabled people. Sadly, since the passing of the bill, there has been pushback. Laws, research, and activism have allowed improvement, but there are still many steps we must take to further the accessibility of education and inclusion of disabled students. Research has shown that disabled students face systemic barriers ranging from general lack of support to negative views from faculty members. Educators identified limited resources as a barrier to supporting disabled students. There is a clear need to ensure faculty have the resources to adapt their classrooms to an accessible format. Here I will provide 10 guidelines to help ensure a classroom is more accessible and inclusive to disabled students. The guidelines are as follows: 1) Instructor and course specific accessibility and accommodations statements, 2) Meet with students privately about their accommodations, 3) Do not ask students to disclose their disabilities, 4) Consider the implications of language used, 5) Apply principles from Universal Design for Learning in the classroom, 6) Proactively provide accessible materials, 7) Upload notes and slides for class and/or recordings, 8) Remove attendance requirements, 9) Check-in with students on how accommodations are working in your class, 10) Include content from those in the disability community in the curriculum. This presentation is supported by disability and education literature. Adopting these guidelines is just the first step in starting to create a more inclusive and accessible educational environment. In conclusion, acquiring accessible education for all is within our power, but resources for 1) disabled individuals and 2) educators are needed.

M.L.A. was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program award (number DGE1745016)