Preliminary Results from a Survey to Measure the Benefits of Accessibility and Universal Design Topics in Course Curricula

1. Preliminary Results from a Survey to Measure
the Benefits of Accessibility and Universal
DesignTopics in Course Curricula
COLEMAN CONFERENCE 2019
Howard Kramer
University of Colorado-Boulder
hkramer@colorado.edu, 303-492-8672

2. Presentation posted at
slideshare
http://slideshare.net/hkramer99/
https://www.slideshare.net/hkramer99/ud-incurriculum4-
coleman2019.pptx
UD-in-Curriculum-4Coleman- 2019.pptx

3. My Background & Projects
Howard Kramer
PI for Promoting the Integration of Universal Design
into University Curricula (UDUC), CU-Boulder
Teach Universal Design for Digital Media
Accessing Higher Ground: Accessible Media, Web &
Technology Conference

4. Outline
•Results of UDUC student survey
•Results of UDUC employee survey
•Conclusions

5. Career Benefits
•In 2015 tech firms such asYahoo,
Facebook, Microsoft, Dropbox and
LinkedIn announced that they will develop
standard language that lets applicants
“know that having accessibility knowledge
is preferred” to land a job.
Changing landscape for accessibility skills
in tech and design

6.  WCAG: 299 jobs
 ADA: 1000+
 Accessibility: 1000+
 C++: 1000+
 IT Security: 1000+

7. UDUC Survey
Measuring theValue of Accessibility
and Universal DesignTopics in Course
Curricula Survey

8. Survey Overview
• Target audience: Current students or recently
graduated students (up to 3 years) who have
taken tech, design, computer science or media
design courses
• Distribution: email invite sent to faculty at
colleges around the country to pass along to
programs and schools
• First round: beginning of the year
• Completed responses – first round: 88
• As of 10-16-19: 151 total

9. Survey Invite
http://bit.ly/uducsurvey

10. 4. Were there topics related to Universal Design
and/or accessibility for persons with disabilities
addressed in a college-level course you completed?

11. 5. Please tell us the reasons why you did not take
any classes that addressed Universal Design or
accessibility topics

12. 6. Would you have been interested in taking
courses with these topics if they were offered?

13. 8. Was the primary focus of the course Universal
Design and/or accessibility or were these topics a
component of a course with a broader scope?

14. 9. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 indicating “no value” and 5
indicating “crucial,” please rate the usefulness of taking a
course with topics that included Universal Design and/or
accessibility.

15. 10. Were there any topics included in the material on Universal
Design or accessibility that you found to be particularly
valuable?

16. Specific Responses

17. Specific Responses Cont’d

18. Specific Responses Cont’d

19. 12. Since taking the class, have you found the material
on Universal Design or accessibility to be valuable for you
in specific ways?

20. Examples – work related

21. Examples – work related

22. Examples – work related

23. Examples – academic related

24. Examples – academic related

25. Employee Survey
•First Round – about 4 weeks ago
(~September 15)
•27 complete responses

26. 4. Were there topics related to Universal Design
and/or accessibility for persons with disabilities
addressed in a college-level course you completed?
Employee Survey

27. 4. Were there topics related to Universal Design
and/or accessibility for persons with disabilities
addressed in a college-level course you completed?
Employee Survey

28. 4. 23. Please select your age group.
Employee vs. Student Survey

29. SurveyTakeaways
• May be a significant number of students interested in
Universal Design and accessibility topics but unable to
take courses
• At least based on the respondents who took this survey,
courses with these topics are highly valued.
• Colleges and universities would likely find an enthusiastic
response if they offered more courses with these topics.
• Including courses with these topics has notable work or
career benefits.
• For those teaching courses, the responses provide
guidance on what topics or class activities students find
the most valuable.

30. Distributing Survey
Survey Invite (student)
https://www.uduc.org/survey-invite/

31. Distributing Survey
Survey Invite (employee)
https://www.uduc.org/survey-invite/

32. Resources to Introduce and Convey
Accessibility Issues
• WAI – Accessibility Perspectives
• https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspectives/

33. UDUCTrack at AHG 2018
(Videos & Audio)
• Teaching Accessibility: Case studies of courses that
include accessibility topics in their curricula
• http://bit.ly/casestudies_AHG
• https://www.uduc.org/recent-workshop-recordings/

34. Promoting the Integration of UD Content into
University Curriculum (UDUC)
Other Resources / Projects

35. Promoting the Integration of UD Content into
University Curriculum (UDUC)
Other Resources / Projects

36. Promoting the Integration of Universal
Design into University Curricula (UDUC)
Opportunities for Collaboration
• Sharing of Resources
• E-text book
• Joining UDUC network/mailing list -
https://www.uduc.org/get-involved/
• Distributing surveys to students – benefits of
taking classes with Inclusive Design and
accessibility topics

37. Accessing Higher Ground
Conference
Basics of Inclusive Design for Online Education
• https://www.coursera.org/teach/inclusive-design/
Free Coursera MOOC
Accessible Media, Web &Technology
•November 18 – 22, 2019
•Westin Hotel - between Boulder & Denver
•http://accessinghigherground.org
•RFP: due April 19, 2019