What does “Celebrate Differences” mean to you? For the Autism Society of America, #CelebrateDifferences means promoting acceptance of autism, and fostering inclusivity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020), the prevalence of autism in children has grown to about 1 in 59. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by differences in communication, relationships, and social environments, and affects people differently and across a spectrum of varying degrees (Autism Society: What is autism?, 2020).  

We know that 12% of our students at Wentworth have self-reported a disability, and of those diagnoses, 90% are learning, developmental, or psychiatric (Why Does Accessibility Make a Difference at Wentworth?, 2021). Statistically, we can reasonably conclude that neurodiverse students are enrolled our classes right now. How can we design courses to be more inclusive? Here are a few strategies you can consider.  

Images and Graphics 

Strategically choose illustrations, graphics, and images to enhance your instruction, and offer alternatives for both auditory and visual information (UDL: Offer alternatives for visual information, 2017). When designing course graphics, choose mild colors with clear contrast.  

Syntax and Structure 

Visual and verbal metaphors can be tricky for students with autism. We can improve our communication by providing options for language and symbols, clarifying what we mean, and using plain English (UDL: Language & Symbols, 2017). For example, instead of writing “hitting the books”, which not everyone will understand, you could instead specify “studying”.  

Layout and Navigation 

As a student navigates through your class, we can help by using consistent layouts for our lesson pages and assignment instructions. Give your files, links, modules, assignments, quizzes, and discussions clear titles. Use descriptive labels for buttons and hyperlinks. For example, “Accessibility Services resource page” instead of “click here”.  

Here are three things you can do right now that will instantly improve the accessibility of your course. 

• Utilize the title, heading, and subheading when creating a word document, slide deck, or Brightspace file. This will help screen readers. 
• Use Panopto to add automatic captions to lecture videos. 
• In addition to listing learner support resources in your syllabi, consider adding links to Wentworth Accessibility resources and Wentworth Learning and Advising resources in a “Student Resources” or “Getting Started” module to make it easier for students to find. 

Accessible design is necessary for some, but better for all! For more ideas on how to create inclusive courses, book a consultation to connect with one of our Instructional Designers. 

By Lucy Wolski, M.Ed., Instructional Designer 

References 

Autism Society. (2021, March 29). Autism Society. https://www.autism-society.org/ 

CDC. (2020, September 25). Data & Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html 

Designing for Users on the Autism Spectrum. (2016). Home Office Digital. https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2016/09/autistic-spectrum.png 

Rusakova, I. (2020, October 29). Designing for autistic people — overview of existing research. Medium; UX Collective. https://uxdesign.cc/designing-for-autistic-people-overview-of-existing-research-d6f6dc20710e 

Specific Review Standards from the QM Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition General Standards Points Specific Review Standards. (n.d.). https://www.qualitymatters.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/StandardsfromtheQMHigherEducationRubric.pdf 

UDL: The UDL Guidelines. (2017, November 28). Cast.org. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/ 

Why Does Accessibility Make a Difference at Wentworth? (2021). Wentworth Institute of Technology https://wit.edu/about/lit/accessibility/why