Substantive Post: Open Educational Resource (Challenge C #2)

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Accessibility Within Design

Accessibility is the choice to make something more easily and readily available for people. Within the context of learning, inclusion, and design, accessibility becomes a way to give learners the opportunity to seek and understand knowledge. According to Kat Holmes, there are three crucial inclusive design principles that “seek to remove barriers [through] the recognition that disability isn’t a lack of ability, it’s a mismatch between a person’s abilities and their environment” (Holmes, 2020). The below is a video example of what accessibility looks like for learners.

Accessibility in Education (Microsoft Education, 2022)

Kat Holmes’ Inclusive Design Principles

Recognize Exclusion

The first principle is to “recognize exclusion.” This happens when you solve problems without considering how others with less abilities may approach the same issue. In learning, this becomes important because educators need to find a balance between teaching the information faithfully and accurately whilst allowing (ideally) everyone to learn the material.

Solve for One, Extend to Many

The second principle is “solve for one, extend to many.” The idea is to be inclusive in a way that benefits everyone. For example, instead of removing pizza from a school cafeteria because one person is allergic to cheese, you can offer pizza alongside other foods. This creates more variety in the environment, while giving people with allergies more options.

Learn from Diversity

The third principle is to “learn from diversity.” This principle applies when testing out multimedia projects. An example would be to share the Challenge C prototype with two people and have them leave a peer review to guide the next steps of the project. Overall, the three principles of inclusive design help make learning better for everyone.

References

Holmes, K. (2020). Mismatch: How inclusion shapes design. MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262539487/mismatch/

Microsoft Education. (2022). Accessibility in Education [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN9Znrt7p0w