Barriers and accessibility in teaching

Why should you care about accessibility in your teaching?

Some students are dependent on the barrier-free design of teaching materials in order to gain access to the content. In this way, you support the equal participation opportunities of all students.
By designing your teaching materials to be accessible, you meet legal requirements.

Barriers and accessibility in teaching: an open-ended list...

With the digitization of teaching, either as an online session or teaching that includes digital aspects (e.g. teaching videos, digital documents, use of digital tools or modules on learning platforms), barriers arise primarily through the form in which content is offered as well as through organizational and technical conditions. The barrier-free design of teaching contents is essential for some students with impairments in order to gain equal access - but for many other students it is just as helpful. At the same time, impairments vary greatly, which is why solutions are also diverse and partly dependent on the individual case.

Format of teaching and accessible teaching-learning materials

Barriers often arise in this area because information (e.g. in videos or presentations) is conveyed simultaneously in spoken/auditory and visual form.
Adherence to the two-senses principle increases accessibility: all information should be conveyed and perceivable via at least two senses (e.g. visual and auditory). This means that any spoken information should also be available visually in written language. Visual content should also be provided in spoken language and/or in barrier-free written form.

Presentations which implement the two-senses principle increase accessibility for hearing and visually impaired students and the form appeals to different types of learners. Clear structures of content and short sentences not only help people with concentration difficulties, but also increase the comprehensibility of teaching for everyone.
Inclusive didactics, oriented towards the Universal Design of Learning and Universal Design of Instruction, include, for example, the planning of alternative tasks. A varied methodological design can reduce barriers for visually and hearing impaired, autistic, and some students with psychological conditions. A varied didactic approach also appeals to different types of learners.
Videos usually contain barriers in their basic implementation, as information is conveyed visually and audibly at the same time.
1. Translation into the respective national sign language is necessary for deaf students.
2. Audio descriptions translate visual aspects into spoken language so that visually impaired or blind students can perceive them.
3. Captions help hearing-impaired students. They are also convenient for anyone learning in noise-sensitive environments or for those whose first language is not the language of the course.
4. Barrier-free transcripts of video and audio content increase accessibility for hearing- and visually-impaired students and help to catch up on missed course content when students are absent due to illness. At the same time, they help everyone focus on the content because there is no need to take notes. Moreover, they support quick scanning, exam preparation or when videos do not load due to poor internet connections.
Barrier-free documents (presentations, seminar plans, assignment slips, trans/scripts of lectures) create access for visually impaired students because assistive technologies, such as a screen reader or a Braille line, can output them.

Organizational

Providing materials early is relevant for visually impaired students who use assistive technology to perceive content. It also supports everyone's preparation.
Rooms and their inventory often exhibit barriers to more than just students who use wheelchairs. (Information about constructional barrier-free access to rooms is documented in our Digital Campus Map.) Good room acoustics and the availability of microphones and FM systems, if applicable, help students who are hard of hearing. Blackboard cameras can help visually impaired students.
Space- and time-independent digital elements (e.g. recordings, videos) support students who frequently have to attend doctor's appointments or during exacerbation periods or flare-ups of illness. They also benefit students with caregiving responsibilities, or if studies are financed through employment.

Technical

Barrier-free operable and accessible digital infrastructure (e.g. learning management systems, homepage, but also tools that are used in teaching, e.g. digital whiteboards, online quizzes) provide a means of access for students with motor and musculoskeletal impairments and for visually impaired students who, for example, require strong contrasts or use assistive technologies to access textual content and image descriptions.

Lack of accessibility in the digital structures cannot be changed by lecturers at short notice. A working group has been set up for this purpose.