Educator’s Accessibility Toolkit

The Council of Ontario Universities partnered with the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto, York University, and the Government of Ontario through the EnAbling Change Partnership Program to assemble and develop resources that support the accessible delivery and instruction of programs and courses.

These resources, listed below, are designed to help Ontario universities meet their obligations under Section 16 of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA): Training to Educators, as well as provide broad support to educators in creating accessible learning environments for students.

ON THIS PAGE

Introduction to Accessible Education

Course Planning

Accessible Science Laboratories

Teaching Tips

Introduction to Accessible Education

Accessible Educationⁱ is the process of designing courses and developing a teaching style to meet the needs of people from a variety of backgrounds, abilities and learning styles. Just as there is no single way to teach, people learn in a variety of ways; using different instructional methods will help meet the needs of the greatest number of learners ⁱⁱ.

The Educators’ Accessibility Toolkit provides guidelines and tips on how to make your courses and your teaching more accessible to students. These tips are in line with research on best practices in teaching and learning ⁱⁱⁱ.

Course Planning

By following a few simple steps, educators can make their courses accessible to broader student audiences. In this section, you will find resources to help you with:

Accessible Science Laboratories

Students with disabilities are not well represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and are frequently deterred from pursuing careers in these fields by perceived and actual barriers. The National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) explores these barriers, and discusses possible solutions and accommodations in its paper, Creating an Accessible Science Laboratory Environment.

Teaching Tips

Listed here are a number of resources for help on producing accessible learning environments for all university students.