Faculty Instructional Materials
SBCC strives to educate instructors on their role in providing accessible course materials
to students with disabilities. Support in the creation and design of accessible materials
is available through the Faculty Resource Center.
Support for students needing alternate instructional formats is available in DSPS. Students work with our disability specialists to determine the preferred format
on a case by case.
Step 1. Submitting your course textbooks (print or digital) helps the students receive their accommodation in a timely manner on the first day of class. Students are asked to search for your textbooks at the SBCC Campus Store. They need the following information for each book : Full Title, Author, Publisher, Edition, ISBN.
Step 2. Students will need to purchase their books and save the receipts. Proof of purchase will be required when submitting requests.
Accessible materials can be supported by you, when you have the expectation and can request from the publisher the most accessible versions!!
Information and Communication Technology and Instructional Material Accessibility Standard
DSPS is the designated agent of the college responsible for ensuring equal access
to students with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations to instruction.
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary
to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in,
and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by a public entity.
It is, therefore, the school's responsibility to provide these auxiliary aids and services in a timely manner to ensure effective participation by students with disabilities. If students are being evaluated to determine their eligibility under Section 504 or the ADA, the recipient must provide auxiliary aids in the interim.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in recruitment, admission, and treatment after admission. A recipient . . . shall take such steps as are necessary to ensure that no handicapped student is denied the benefits of, excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination under the education program or activity operated by the recipient because of the absence of educational auxiliary aids for students with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended 1998 requires Federal agencies to ensure that electronic and information technology is accessible. This applies to its development, procurement, maintenance, or use. Some examples: distance education, online courses, web pages, videos, student portals, kiosks.
California’s Senate Bill 105 requires that California governmental entities comply with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Assembly Bill 422 (California, 1999) codified in Section 67302 of the Ed Code.
AB 422 requires every publisher of printed instructional materials to provide those
materials in electronic format for students with disabilities attending University
of California campuses, California State Universities, or California Community Colleges
and provide them in a timely manner at no additional cost upon the receipt of a written
request and evidence of a student's receipt of purchase.
“Accessible’ means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire
the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services
as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner,
with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able
to obtain the information as fully, equally and independently as a person without
a disability.
Although this might not result in identical ease of use compared to that of persons
without disabilities, it still must ensure equal opportunity to the educational benefits
and opportunities afforded by the technology and equal treatment in the use of such
technology.” (Resolution Agreement South Carolina Technical College System OCR Compliance Review
No. 11-11-6002).
Office of Civil Rights video on Online Education and website Accessibility
U.S. Departmnet of Education, Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Artificial Intelligence (November 2024)
- Identifying barriers and systemic issues that affect timely delivery of instructional materials to postsecondary students with disabilities;
- Discussing technical solutions that could improve timely delivery of instructional materials to postsecondary students with disabilities;
- Analyzing how to create and improve the use of instructional materials in your classroom.
- Instructional materials for students with disabilities must be created in a timely manner, in order for students to participate on the first day of class.
As an enrolled student, you may come across print materials that are inaccessible to you in a particular classroom format. To discuss formats that best meet your need you may request simple adjustments to some materials directly from your instructor or meet with a DSPS specialist to discuss more appropriate ongoing solutions for accommodation.
Simply put, universal design means creating your courses with all student types in mind, so that all students can access your instruction, whether it be face to face, hybrid, online, or hyflex. This is especially inportant for students with disabilities who need to use assistive technology to access course content in an alternate way. This may include but is not limited to: textbook adaptions/formats; technology accessibility/usability; syllabus & course design; powerpoint/leture materials; in-class activities; out of class assignments; exam formats. The consideration of universal design is so important that the Chancellor's Office has created a task force to create guidance for our community colleges.
Images - Images are found in course materials: Power Point presentations, web-based technology
products, course packs and textbooks. Images may be photographs, illustrations, graphics,
charts, icons, animations, cartoons, etc. Students with print impairments may ask
for images to be labeled with an “alt” tag in order to be read in the background with
a screen reader or other text-to-speech technology.
Solution: Make links meaningful. Avoid using "click here." Write out explicit text explaining
where the link is going to take the user.
Text -Barriers that text in course materials pose include: font size, size format, color
emphasis, colored type, or varied layout on a website or in a learning management
system. Students with print impairments may request text in Braille, or in a digital format with which they can use a software based screen enlargement program. This allows the user to have control in setting font size, format and other
attributes. Students may ask for flexibility in the delivery of print materials so
they are available in audio format. "Talking books" can provide audio feedback through human narration or digital output. Print can also be read by using a software based screen reader.
Keep text in electronic format which is the most accessible and flexible should an
alternate format be required.
Solution: Keep you instructional materials in text format. This is the most accessible format.
Audio content appears in many types of course materials: audio found in course materials include: a variety multimedia materials. Students may
ask for flexibility in the delivery of print materials so they are available in audio
format. “Talking books” can provide audio feedback through human narration or digital output. Print can be read by using a software based screen reader.
Solution: Audio provides access to information for student who may have cognitive processing
challenges.
Video - course materials may include videos to convey history re-enactments, story examples,
demonstrations or simulations in the classroom, movie clips. Students who are deaf
or hard of hearing may request captioned videos in order to have a text-based equivalent
of oral information. Media to be captioned includes online video clips, DVD’s (check
to see if it is time to swap out old versions of media) and videos created by the
instructor.
Solution: Start by acquiring videos that are already captioned. Check with your publishers
to provide you with an accessible version. If you create your own videos, caption
them using YouTube and then reviewing for any edits and corrections that need to be
made for accuracy.
Essentially, subtitles assume an audience can hear the audio, but need the dialogue
provided in text form as well. Meanwhile, closed captioning assumes an audience cannot
hear the audio and needs a text description of what they would otherwise be hearing. Closed
captions, not only supplement for dialogue but other relevant parts of the soundtrack, describing
background noises, phones ringing and other audio cues that need describing.
Closed captions appear with a "CC" button that allows the viewer to turn the captions on or off.
However, transcripts are not sufficient for video content as they are not time synchronized
with the media.
Solution: If you have a large number of videos that need to be captioned contact Laurie Vasquez
x 4329, to discuss using the Chancellor's Office state funded grant for captioning.
Regardless of whether documents are created in Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, or another
format, there are right and wrong ways to create documents in order to ensure people
with disabilities can access them.
This video explains why and how to create electronic documents that are accessible to all users.
- Video runtime: 11:36 minutes
- Year: 2016
- Source - University of Washington Do-It program
Self-paced accessibility courses are available through the CCC accessibility center.
CCCCO, Distance Education Accessibility Guidelines for Students with Disabilities (2011)
California Code of Regulations Title 5- Article 1. Distance Education
Textbooks should be purchased with accessibility in mind. Students with blindness, low vision, dyslexia, those with many types of learning
disabilities or traumatic brain injuries may not be able to utilize printed material.
Textbook choices should be publicly listed at least four weeks before class starts. Even electronic books may not be fully accessible from the publisher and may require extensive editing before they are ready for student use. Students with disabilities must have equivalent access to these textbooks when class starts.
Questions to ask publishers and textbook representatives about the accessibility of their textbooks:
1. If I select an online textbook, what do you provide for students with disabilities who may need it in an alternate format ( such as digital text, enlarged print or braille).
2. What is the process for a student to receive an accessible format? Do you have
a website link where students can go to request the alternative format? Sample disability
request forms should be available from the publishers website. Examples from publishers:
Pearson
Mc Graw-Hill
Cengage
Vital Source
Wiley
3) What is the accessibility of the test/quiz banks of questions? What testing do you do to ensure a student with a disability can access the content with the assistive technology such as screen readers for users who are blind.
4) Do you provide links to websites, videos or audio files with your online textbooks? Are the links descriptive? Are videos captioned? Is there a transcript for an audio file? Is there a text-to-voice function available on the website?
5) As an instructor you want to have a dialogue about choosing the most accessible materials for your class that provide the broadest access for all students.
- Do you offer your own proprietary text to speech option built-into your textbook?
- Are videos and animations included in the textbook? Are they captioned or subtitled? Is there a transcript? Is the transcript visible along with video/animation?
- Discussion forums? Can a student use screen reading/text to speech software within the discussion forum? Using assistive technology such as the program Dragon Naturally Speaking?
- Workbook/worksheets/handouts? Can a student using assistive technology access content with screen reading/text to speech software? For example, JAWS screen reading software
- What screen reading software is compatible with the vendor’s proprietary interactive software or course materials site?
- What other standard assistive technology software is compatible (and usable) with the vendor’s proprietary interactive software or course materials site(s)?
- What training is provided to me as faculty using your online materials to ensure that all accessibility features are activated and engaged?
- What is the process/response time for technical help, questions, or additional to ensure access for textbooks?
- Does your support desk also respond to our disability services office if they need to intervene in support of me, working with the student in my class?
- How will students gain access to the materials?
- Do students need an access code for the online textbook? Does it expire? When does it expire? As the instructor, make the computer requirements explicit in your syllabus.
- What is the student actually paying for?
- Some students would like to own the material so they have it for future reference (rather than just online during the term).
Canvas is a cloud based course management system used by many of our instructors for face to face, hybrid or distance education courses
- For a successful user experience the organization of your course is critical for ease of navigation with assistive technology
- Course structure can be aided by following the OEI course design rubric
- @One provides self-paced accessibility Canvas accessibility course (helpful for understanding the basics of accessibility)
- Learn more about Canvas through the Faculty Resource Center where you are trained according to our institutional standards.
SBCC's library OER page of resources
- OER and accessibility
- Resource - Working toward inclusive learning
- Resource - Accessibility and open educational resources