Learning Experiences of Students with Disabilities

This resource highlights some of the conditions or disabilities your students may have. It also recommends ways to prepare your course resources and how to deliver your course to lessen or avoid challenges students may have as a result of their condition or disability.

Disability Awareness

Firstly, it is important to be aware of the variety of effects that disabilities can have on an individual’s learning, and why traditional teaching and content display methods may not work for everyone.

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2011) estimates that 15% of all people have some form of disability. In 2017, more than 22% of the Canadian population aged 15 years and over — or about 6.2 million individuals — had one or more disabilities (Statistics Canada, 2018). To be more precise, in Canada:

• more than 5% of people have hearing loss;
• 4.5% have some form of visual impairment;
• 7.9% have mobility related disabilities and 3.6% have a dexterity disability;
• 4% have a learning disability; and
• 3.5% have a memory disability.

Use of Assistive Technologies and Tools for Teaching and Learning

Awareness of assistive technologies will help instructors relate to students’ challenges.

Consider the tables below. Here, we present a variety of conditions and disabilities, recommendations for course design and assistive technologies which may also be considered for teaching and learning to address them.

Condition or Disability	Learner Experience	Design Recommendations	Assistive Technologies
visual impairment, low vision, blindness	may be able to touch type challenged reading the screen screen reading technology does not interpret diagrams or visuals well recorded messages (such as through Dragon Dictate) can be difficult to navigate sections or paragraphs	use 12 point fonts or larger use a sans serif font (e.g., Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana) using italics or upper-case letters for emphasis is not recommended space between the lines should be at least 25% of the point size left-aligned text is the most readable alignment for Western learners; avoid justification or centering text add descriptive text about the content or function of an image or graphic	screen reader, screen magnifier

Condition or Disability	Learner Experience	Design Recommendations	Assistive Technologies
hard of hearing, deaf, Deaf*	unable to follow or hear verbal discussions challenges with cues for ‘turn taking’ some learners know a form of Standardized Sign Language (ie, British, American, etc.) but not all	provide transcripts or closed captioning provide summaries of key points in chat	closed captions, transcripts

Condition or Disability	Learner Experience	Design Recommendations	Assistive Technologies
physically disabled, mobility issues	inability to freely move hands, arms, or fingers leads to inability to use keyboard or mouse at typical able-bodied user speeds, or possibly at all users may utilize or rely on alternative methods of interacting with content, such as input devices, text-to-speech software, or text prediction software, to assist with the composition of responses and feedback users may not be able to participate in a timely way with synchronous activities	asynchronous discussions would likely benefit these users, giving them more time to formulate and add contributions ensure all content is accessible by assistive devices provide text alternatives to all relevant course imagery and media, including diagrams, photos, charts, and videos	text prediction software speech recognition software on-screen keyboard some ergonomic keyboards are single-handed use or have large keys for those with poor muscle control adaptive switch technologies input devices

Condition or Disability	Learner Experience	Design Recommendations	Assistive Technologies
cognitive disability, learning disability	may not be able to contribute to a traditional synchronous discussion model brightly colored or flashing text and images could be problematic, potentially inducing distraction, loss of concentration, or even seizures	asynchronous discussions tend to work best for users who may required alternative devices to access their course content ensure all course content, including media, are provided in accessible formats simple, clear fonts preferred, with no serifs these design decisions also benefit second language learners	spelling and grammar checkers are of benefit may prefer to use dictation or assistive technologies to produce contributions

Student Life at Memorial University has some great resources on Creating Accessible Materials. They also offer support in determining how to make your classroom accessible. You can also reach out to CITL for assistance with this as well.

Pedagogical Strategies Using Universal Design (UDL)

A solid approach to consider how to teach while keeping students with disabilities in mind is to follow the principles of Universal Design for Learning. This is especially recommended since many students do not disclose “invisible” or non-apparent disabilities (Moriña, 2022). You can also check out this resource that provides a list of things to include and exclude when designing for students with disabilities.

Video Captioning and Transcripts

The easiest and quickest technique for an educator to reach the most learners is to utilize video captioning or transcripts, or both, for presentations and videos.

Here are a few statistics on video transcript/captions:

• 80% of people who use captions aren’t deaf or hard of hearing;
• 80% more people are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available; and
• 98.6% of students find captions helpful (3PlayMedia, 2020).

Why do so many people use video captions and transcripts? It’s because they help with comprehension of dialogue, clarification of terminology, concentration, and engagement, which enables people:

• to focus:
  • 65% of students say captions help them focus;
  • 63% of students say captions help them retain information;
  • 50% of students repurpose transcripts as study guides; and
  • closed captions help maintain concentration, which can provide a better experience for viewers with learning disabilities, attention deficits, or autism.
• to watch videos in noisy or quiet environments:
  • captions allow viewers to watch videos in sound-sensitive environments, like offices and libraries.
• to understand the language:
  • closed captions help with comprehension of dialogue that is spoken very quickly, with accents, mumbling, or background noise;
  • video that mentions full names, brand names, or technical terminology provides clarity for the viewer when the captions spell out these words; and
  • viewers who know English as a second language benefit from closed captions, because they make it easier to follow along with the speech.
• to accommodate a hearing disability; or
• to learn new vocabulary (3PlayMedia, 2020; and Sauld, 2020).

In general,

• online videos with subtitles have higher user engagement and create a better user experience, and
• Faculty who provided captions actually ranked higher than faculty who did not provide captions (3PlayMedia, 2020; and Sauld, 2020).

References

• 3Play Media (2020). “Accessibility and Online Video Statistics.”
• CAST (2018). “Universal Design for Learning Guidelines” version 2.2.
• CITL (2015). Accessibility Principles.
• CITL (2015). Assistive Technologies.
• CITL (2020). Guide for preparing your course for remote or online learning.
• CITL (2020). Creating Transcripts.
• Katz, Jonathan (2017, June 6). “Writing Government Information for People with Cognitive Disabilities”. [Video of webinar] Accessibility NYC.
• Logan, Thomas (2020). “How to create web products for people with disabilities” [Webinar]. Le Wagon and Equal Entry. 11 November, 2020.
• Moriña, A. (2022). When what is unseen does not exist: disclosure, barriers and supports for students with invisible disabilities in higher education. Disability & Society, 39(4), 914–932. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2113038
• Pun, Karwai (2006, September 2). “Dos and Don’ts on Designing for Accessibility”. UK Home Office. (Updated 2019: UK Home Office Accessibility Posters).
• Sauld, Samantha (2020). “How Many People Use Subtitles? Not Just the Deaf or Hard of Hearing.”
• Skidmore, James A. (2020, November 11). “Accessibility: The more flexible the course, the fewer obstacles to accessibility.”
• Solomon, G. (2011). E-moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online (3^rd ed). Routledge.
• Statistics Canada. (2018). Canadian Survey on Disability Reports: A demographic, employment and income profile of Canadians with disabilities aged 15 years and over.
• WebAim (2020). “Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions”.
• WebAim (2019). “Screen Reader User Survey Number 8 Results”.
• World Health Organization (2011). “Summary: World Report on Disability”. WHO and The World Bank.

Resource created by: Stacey A., Jane C., & Keith P.

Originally Published: December 11, 2020

Last Updated: August 8, 2024