Faculty and Staff Responsibilities
Responsibilities of Teaching Faculty and Staff
- Provide a consistent layout, navigation, and design across the course platform making content easier to locate and use.
- Choose a layout style or theme within Canvas that has a strong color contrast.
- Make sure students can access all necessary websites or software application functionalities via the keyboard only, such as accessing menu options and navigating between different screens.
- Clearly identify each hyperlink destination. Typically, the title of the web page or document to which you are linking.
- Well-structured documents have a better chance of being viewable and navigable on different devices and for assistive technology.
- Avoid using color combinations that make the text hard to read. Try using color combinations with a strong contrast to make course materials more perceivable by everyone.
- Provide digital copies of course materials so that students will have the opportunity to listen to the documents on different devices or when using Assistive Technology.
- Configure copy machines to create digital copies of scanned documents.
- Use proper styles and formatting to create well-structured documents. This includes the use of headers and bulleted or numbered lists.
- Include an alternative description of images that are meaningful.
- Provide alternatives to visual materials (e.g. complex charts, graphs, etc.) for learners that may need textual cues to help identify the salient points of visual materials. If the descriptions are lengthy, provide a link to a companion document (or chapter, if applicable) that includes an overview of the visual materials. This ensures that everyone has meaningful access, including individuals that are more efficient with processing text, have a visual impairment or have attention span difficulties.
- Provide captions for all videos and transcripts for all audio files being presented in class.
- Consider presenting Google Slides with captions.
- Avoid using color combinations that make the text hard to read. Try using color combinations with a strong contrast to make course materials more perceivable by everyone.
- Provide alternatives to visual materials (e.g. complex charts, graphs, etc.) for learners that may need textual cues to help identify the salient points of visual materials. If the descriptions are lengthy, provide a link to a companion document (or chapter, if applicable) that includes an overview of the visual materials. This ensures that everyone has meaningful access, including individuals that are more efficient with processing text, have a visual impairment or have attention span difficulties.
The design of your syllabus can influence accessibility. A few changes could mean the difference between comprehension and confusion. The Office of the Provost provides tips for designing your syllabus to be accessible, key components to include when writing your syllabus, and tips for motivating students to read your syllabus.
Faculty Guide for Students with Disabilities
The Office of the Provost supports faculty in delivering a high quality liberal arts education that prepares students for global citizenship. The office upholds the university’s commitment to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment that engages all learners, including students with disabilities.
A collaborative effort of the Miller Center for Student Disability Services (SDS), Office of the Provost, and AccessMU Center, the Faculty Guide for Students with Disabilities has been developed to help faculty and academic advisors enable students with disabilities to find their place at Miami, engage with the community, and succeed and reach academic and personal success.
