Organizational Best Practices Track

Ten Practices for Creating Accessible Online Courses

Online teaching and learning provides both a challenge and an opportunity for students with disabilities.  Faculty agree that creating online courses that are accessible to students with disabilities is the right and ethical thing to do, but they often do not know where to start.  In this session, a course developer and administrator from two institutions will present ten basic practices for creating accessible course material.  The goals of this session are (1) to build awareness of accessibility issues, (2) to introduce assistive technologies used to access Web pages, and (3) to provide faculty with basic practices to create accessible online material.

Presenter: Chris Sax, Barbara Frey

Chris Sax is Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Outreach and Innovation at Shippensburg University, with responsibility for distance education policies, practices, faculty support, and administration, as well as the management of off-campus programs for non-traditional students.  She leads the Office of Professional, Continuing, and Distance Education Studies (PCDE), as well as the Institute for Public Service and Office of Sponsored Programs (IPSSP), Center for Faculty Excellence in Scholarship and Teaching (CFEST) Grants Administration and Campus Support, University Research and Scholarship Program (URSP), and new Academic Innovation (AI) initiatives She has taught online since 1997, having authored seven unique online biology courses, two of which received the UCEA Mid-Atlantic Region's Program of Excellence Award. Chris was named Distance Educator of the Year by the Maryland Distance Learning Association in 2004. Chris was one of the original co-directors of the nationally-based Quality Matters project (2003-2006).    Barbara A. Frey, D.Ed received her D.Ed. from Pennsylvania State University and her M.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh.  She is a Senior Instructional Designer in the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education at the University of Pittsburgh where she provides support and training to faculty on a variety of teaching and learning projects.  In addition, she teaches as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Learning and Performance Systems Department of Pennsylvania State University World Campus.  Her research interests include Web-based distance education, program evaluation, instructional design and technology, and human resource development.