Accessibility Reflection

Accessible Photos

Accessible Videos

I’ve edited the closed captions on this Youtube video I had previously made for this class. I have also added in some captions to the H5P version of this video because I wanted to try it out since the Youtube process is very easy.

I only added 2 subtitle sections to the H5P video just to get an idea of how it worked.

Response to Reflection Questions

I had little knowledge about digital accessibility prior to this week. I knew that there were many valuable tools for accessibility, and I also knew that my knowledge was severely lacking. I was very excited when I saw what the theme for this week was because of this. I want to be able to create a classroom where everyone can learn comfortably and in a way that best suits them. In my previous experience in classrooms as an E.A. I definitely saw situations where some changes were made for students with accessibility issues, but the expectation was that it was only temporary. That’s why I really appreciated Tracy’s point that some students will need these tools for the duration of their learning. This really changed my view as before I had only had experience where it was expected for the student to eventually learn to do it the same way students without their accessibility needs do it. Tracy’s talk really got me thinking and reflecting on my experiences and ideas which I am very grateful for.

I think that many digital accessibility practices aren’t more well-known or commonly used because may schools don’t support students with these needs well enough and the parents are forced to find other options that suit their children better. Even in her talk Tracy spoke to how she had to take her children out of a school that wasn’t working for them and wasn’t listening to her concerns properly. Even myself who is working towards becoming a teacher I know so little about these kinds of tools which are so important for my future classrooms and students. Therefore, I think the main issue is one of lack of education which is becoming a bit of a vicious cycle that prevents us from making these digital accessibility practices more well known. I think organizations like BCEdAccess and lectures from people like are doing great work to end this lack of knowledge and information so we can make all classrooms more accessible for everyone.

I feel like there are many digital accessibility practices that I miss since I have so little experience in the area. Since I know so little I also feel like I would have no idea where to even start to help a student find the resource that would work best for them. That’s why I’m very grateful for resources such as BCEdAccess and hopefully the school I work at will have proper resources to help me and my students as well.