The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 508), as well as good teaching practice, require that all online educational materials be accessible to students with disabilities. In other words, all products, platforms, and materials should be able to be used as effectively by people with disabilities as it can by those without. Some basics to check for when evaluating a resource include captions for videos and access to products, platforms, and materials through the use of assistive technology such as screen readers. For more information on verifying the accessibility of OER, please view UMW’s Access for All online resource. (link to Pressbook)
Open textbooks offered by the major OER publishers are likely highly accessible but still require verification. This is true of OpenStax and Lumen Learning. In general, accessibility varies by text, but the open license gives you permission to revise the content to improve accessibility.
[ next question: How Does One Create Open Course Materials/OER? ]
Image “a11ylogo500” courtesy of Terrill Thompson via flickr.com.
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