Faculty and Staff
Ensuring equal access to college courses, programs, and events is a shared responsibility. At a minimum, faculty and staff need to be responsive to reasonable accommodation requests.
Faculty and staff across our campuses have an important role to play in making sure students feel welcomed. There’s a lot we can do proactively to remove barriers.
Identify barriers proactively by requesting consultation and end-user testing
Tips and best practices
Recognize the relevance of disability
- The disability experience is often one of invisibility. People experience anxiety, depression, chronic health conditions, and pain, but those experiences are hidden.
- The disability rights movement is part of the broader civil rights movement. It has social relevance and should be included in conversations and academic study within sociology, history, psychology, anthropology, architecture, and other subjects.
- See our handouts page for a wide range of additional resources to use in classes, training, etc.
- Check our library guide for articles, books, and videos.
- Check our events page for training opportunities and workshops that are open to the PCC community.
Stay current on access techniques
- Learn about the interactive accommodation process
- Review the tips page
- Make sure your docs, presentation files, pdfs, and websites are accessible
- Plan events and activities with access in mind
- Contact us for a conversation
Information for Instructional Faculty
Those who are engaged in facilitating the teaching and learning process play an integral role in the experiences of both the students in their courses, and the colleagues with whom they confer. We have a shared responsibility to work toward equitable student success, and that means taking responsibility for the materials we select and the instructional techniques we employ.
Creating an accessible syllabus
There is a great resource from Tulane that provides examples and sources. Categories include use of images, text, rhetoric, and policy.
The Universal Design Syllabus Rubric from UDL Universe out of project Enact at Sonoma
Project Shift provides information regarding syllabus statements and includes examples with a discussion of implicit messages.
Choosing accessible content sources
Go to pcc.edu/publishers for information about the relative pros and cons of adopting materials from publishers. Materials include textbook companion sites, complementary resource libraries, and interactive exercise and test bank options that integrate with PCC’s learning management systems. There are also Accessibility testing results located on spaces (requires login).
Consider Open Educational Resources which can lower costs for students, and which can be not only vetted for quality, but which can be improved in terms of accessibility and then shared back out.
Creating accessible instructional content
Go to pcc.edu/access for quick instructions, detailed tutorials,and on-campus accessibility training opportunities. Also, feel free to contact our access-tech-group@pcc.edu for individual consultations.
Understanding the accommodation process
We recommend that faculty:
- See our page on the online accommodation management system
- Review the faculty quick reference guide
- Review what faculty need to know in the first week as well as our handout on using data to inform practice
- Review college policy related to resolving accommodation related concerns
What to do when you don’t know what to do
Reach out. We are here for you. We have presentation materials and scheduled events, but we are also available to connect and talk in real time. Check out our contact page to get connected or our event page for a calendar with links to presentation materials.
Information for All Employees
Whatever your role at PCC, there are opportunities to bring disability and accessibility into focus as we work together to promote equitable student success. Check out the Accessibility Committees and consider getting involved or subscribe to get updates on events and other disability or accessibility related news.
Comprehensive Training
We have a comprehensive training that is available through MyCareer@PCC. It is now part of the on-boarding curriculum but can also be searched out, or assigned to those who haven’t taken it. Here is a direct link (requires sign-on).
We also have several standalone sessions such that are recommended for staff and faculty as well as student groups. See our event calendar for session handouts and dates for upcoming offerings.
Accessibility 101
Accessible Ed & Disability Resources offers a professional development series that includes this session, which covers accessibility basics for programs and events. Come to learn about making your office, program, or event more accessible for all. This session provides an introduction to concepts related to physical and digital environment accessibility, as well as, covering important information for publications and marketing materials. Faculty, Staff, and Student Groups are encouraged to attend. See our event calendar for session handouts and dates for upcoming offerings but also check out our guidance for remote participation.
Accessible multimedia content
Whether you are looking for a video to show in a training or to use in a course or department meeting, This handout on searching for captioned video provides tips for finding YouTube content with actual subtitles or captions. It also discusses the functionality of interactive transcripts.
To understand the danger of relying upon automatically generated captions, check out these CaptionFail videos.
Contact aedr@pcc.edu if you can’t find what you’re looking for.