What is the Accessibility Review?

Accessibility Reviews are done each semester for any courses that have gone through the Course Readiness Review that same term. (If a course did not meet accessibility expectations in a previous term for any number of reasons, it will be reviewed for accessibility the next time the course is taught with the same instructor.)

The goal of Accessibility Reviews is to improve one category of accessibility for that course. 

See the Accessibility Review Checklist (Google Doc, opens in a new window).

Accessibility Reviews: A Quick Q&A

• Who does the Accessibility reviews?

• Erin McCully (Director of Learner Accessibility & Equity) does the accessibility reviews and is the primary source of contact for questions and resources.

• Which courses go through the Accessibility Review?

• Any course that went through Course Readiness this semester or did not meet Accessibility expectations when last reviewed.

• How much time do faculty have to update their courses?

• Faculty have until the end of the semester to update their courses.

• How do faculty choose what updates to make?

• The goal is to improve the accessibility of your course in one of the ways outlined by the checklist. Start by reviewing your course for items included in the checklist. For instance, if your course has no audio or video content, then you would not choose option 4 or 5, but if you have documents linked in your course, choosing option 2 would be a good option.

• Please view these videos for more information about each category and what they entail:

• Accessibility Review: Overview Video (3:44)

• Accessibility Review: Moodle Content Video (1:33)

• Accessibility Review: Documents Video (2:12)

• Accessibility Review: PPTs Video (2:01)

• Accessibility Review: Video and Audio Video (1:35)

• Accessibility Review: Wrap Up Video (0:55)

• How do faculty learn how to make the updates to accessibility?

• A good place to start is the Accessibility Resource Course, available in Moodle. (We will also be making additional updates to this to reflect the new options on the checklist as well.) Of course, I (Erin) am available to talk through the options as well as provide training: 828.339.4398 or accessibility@southwesterncc.edu. 

• What if a course already meets all the expectations listed in the checklist options?

• Woot woot! Then your course will be considered as meeting expectations on the accessibility review!

• What if a course already went through the Accessibility review process and got a list of things to update, but the updates were not completed at that time? Does the instructor have to do those updates, or can they start with this new process?

• Totally up to you! If you wish to complete work you have already started, feel free to complete that to meet expectations. Otherwise, you can choose to work from the revised accessibility checklist.

• How do faculty communicate the changes they plan to work on?

• Please fill out the Google Form sent to you from accessibility@southwesterncc.edu. (Contact that email address if you have not received the Google form via email.)

Please see the other sections in this course to dig deeper into the different categories and how to make updates.

Questions? Email accessibility@southwesterncc.edu or call 828.339.4398.