Making Online Learning Accessible for Deaf Students: A Guide for Disability Services
As of 2019, around 46% of deaf college students had taken online courses—almost half of all deaf students! Many educational activities also happen online, such as office hours, group projects, internships, conferences, or webinars. Deaf students can benefit from online learning in many ways, but thorough and proactive planning is needed for deaf students to experience the most benefit. This document has two main sections: being proactive and being responsive. All institutions have busy times and not-so-busy times. This guide gives disability service offices tools to increase readiness to serve deaf students through proactive planning and being prepared to respond to requests from students and faculty members.
Equitable Access Can Look Different Online
Accommodations that deaf students had for a face-to-face classroom may not be effective in an online course. Even accommodations used for one online course may need to be adjusted for another course. The communication preferences of deaf students often change across different settings and contexts. Deaf students also encompass a range of identities, experiences, and backgrounds. It is critical that disability service professionals consider these diverse backgrounds when coordinating access for online courses—for example, approximately 50% of deaf students have additional disabilities. It is crucial to have an ongoing dialogue with students about auxiliary aids and services that support learning and communication for their online courses.
Be Aware of Legal Obligations
The legal obligation to provide equitable access does not change if classes are online— your institution is still responsible for ensuring that accommodations are provided and implemented effectively. Higher education institutions, whether private or public, are held accountable to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to the standard of providing “effective communication.” Take into account the student’s experiences with accommodations and access, as “the student is in the best position to determine what type will be effective,” according to a decision by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
A recent class-action lawsuit, National Association of the Deaf v. Harvard and MIT, demonstrates example cases of litigation regarding accessible online media. The institutions were found to be in violation of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for failing to provide captions for online courses. Disability service offices need to remind instructors and departments of the risks and liability they pose to the institution when media and course content is not made accessible to deaf students and students with disabilities.
Be Proactive: Planning Ahead to Improve Equitable Access
Disability service offices need to be part of crucial conversations across campus to ensure that instructors and administrators plan for accessibility for online classes in a proactive way. These conversations should involve active collaborations with instructors, information technology (IT) offices, administrators, student programs, instructional support, service providers, and more. As a part of this proactive planning, encourage instructors to use a universal design approach to course development to ensure that courses are designed with accessibility in mind. When planning for online instruction for deaf students, consider the following components of proactive planning for better-quality access: identifying resources, developing resources, and sharing resources.
Identify Resources
Identify resources that can be used to support online learning for deaf students. What resources are available on campus? What external resources can be used to support instructors and students?
| Support | Considerations |
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Technical Support
Help faculty members and students troubleshoot technical difficulties and provide technological solutions for access. What kind of support can the IT office on your campus provide? Do your online learning management systems have guides that can be used? Is the National Association for the Deaf’s matrix of video conferencing platforms and accessibility options useful? |
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Instructional Support
Help faculty members design effective online courses that include strategies for student engagement. Identify the instructional support at your institution to help faculty members make their courses accessible. Your campus may have an instructional innovation office, a center for teaching, or an instructional support office. The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC) has produced a brief guide that instructors can refer to. What other resources do your instructors need? |
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Media and Captioning Support
Identify campus resources to support faculty members and students with captioning their videos and providing visual access through image descriptions and alternative text. Consider the following questions:
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Student Services and Support Programs
Identify campus resources to support students with situations outside of the classroom but still a significant part of the collegiate experience. Does your campus have a tutoring center or other academic support resources? What support groups are available for students of color, veterans, first-generation students, or LGBTQ students? How are these campus resources accessible to deaf students? For more information, see NDC’s Tips for Students. |
Develop Resources
Create resources to help instructors, students, and support providers ensure optimal accessibility in online courses. Don’t wait for a formal accommodations request—be proactive! Consider what kind of support may be needed that is not currently available at your institution. Having tips and guides prepared will save everyone time when planning for online learning. You may want to work collaboratively with campus offices to develop some of the below resources.
| Support | Considerations |
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Accessibility Statements for Syllabi
Develop a standard accessibility statement for online courses that instructors can easily add to their syllabus. This statement should include information about the disability services office, procedures for getting accommodations, and a clear position of support for disabled students. |
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Learning Management System (LMS) Guides
Create tip sheets or guides on how to use the LMS at your institution. Consider questions such as the following: How are accommodations, like real-time captions and interpreters, integrated into the platform? Note that there are differences between asynchronous (self-paced) and synchronous (real-time) courses. Test the integration of accommodations, do some troubleshooting, and develop guidelines with tips that are specific to your institution’s platform. |
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Video Conferencing Guides
For online teaching, web conferencing options such as Blackboard, Canvas, Zoom, and WebEx are often used. How will interpreters and captions be viewed on the screen? Most video conferencing products prioritize the audio feed over the video feed, which makes it difficult to view the interpreter when instructors share their screen or use other conferencing tools. Does the platform have the ability to connect and sync real-time captions? Again, note that these questions may have different answers depending on whether the course is synchronous or asynchronous. |
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Guides for Working With Service Providers
Guides and protocols can help service providers, such as speech-to-text professionals and interpreters, provide effective and high-quality access for deaf students in online courses. Service providers need access to the LMS, institutional resources, and class materials. The disability services office should work with the IT department to find a solution that works best for your institution. In some cases, you may need to create a user account for service providers, give service providers access to specific software, or provide a dedicated space on campus to use the high-speed internet connection. Are there best practices you can share with service providers for providing services online? |
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Guides for Integrating Accommodations in Online Platforms
How will students access interpreting or speech-to-text services while engaging in online classes? Do you need to recommend using separate platforms or apps for interpreting or speech-to-text services? Can other programs or equipment be used to access interpreters or captions? For example, a solution can be providing a tablet to deaf students to view interpreters by using video software outside of the course (e.g. FaceTime, Whereby, Skype, Zoom) or by using split-screen features. |
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Tips on Recording Classes and Lectures
Recording virtual meetings and lectures is beneficial if issues with internet connection, technology, or accommodations arise. We suggest adding tips on how to record meetings and lectures, as well as how to make prerecorded meetings and lectures accessible. |
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Captioning Protocols
If they do not exist, create proactive campus policies or procedures for captioning media. Communicate with instructors on what to do if they need a video captioned and be sure to let them know of the turnaround time needed to obtain a captioned version of their media, including prerecorded lectures. This may involve using campus services and requires consideration of who pays if costs are involved. Encourage instructors to seek out media that is already accessible for their courses and provide guidance on where they can find existing captioned materials. Remember, captions benefit everyone! |
Share Resources
Share resources to ensure that all students, staff members, and instructors on campus are prepared to support online course accessibility. Proactively sharing resources will reduce the time fielding calls or answering recurring questions. Consider the following strategies for communicating proactively about best practices and resources for online accessibility:
- Create a searchable webpage with all related procedures, guides, resources, links, contacts, and more.
- Send regular reminder emails and/or updates to the campus community, and directly to instructors, several times a year.
- Have direct links or easily accessible information on accommodation letters, on request forms, and in syllabi.
- Add information and links to email signatures.
- Consider hosting webinars or other similar meetings to share information, discuss guidelines, and answer questions. Invite instructors who have taught deaf students and instructors who will teach deaf students for the next semester.
- Create templates for events and organizations, such as a boilerplate paragraph about accessibility for events that includes who to contact and timelines for access.
Be Responsive: Responding to Student Requests
When supporting online access, consider the following best practices and approaches when requests are made or when you become aware of an access consideration. Don’t forget to ask students about access to campus programs and services such as tutoring sessions and advising appointments. This list is specific to online courses—for more ideas, refer to our Resource Portal for Disability Services Professionals.
Let Students Lead
Ask the Right Questions
When working toward online class accessibility, asking instructors and students the right questions is important. This dialogue should remain open throughout the semester in case of changes or other issues. Each online course is unique! The following questions should be considered when you talk about access with students and instructors.
| Question | Considerations |
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Will course activities be synchronous or asynchronous? |
For synchronous activities, access providers must be scheduled in
advance and included in real time. For asynchronous activities, all
materials must be made accessible ahead of time. There are unique
access considerations for each course type. |
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How will student discussion happen? |
Synchronous discussions need clear guidelines to ensure that deaf
students can follow the conversations. If students will upload video
responses, plan for accessibility. Ask whether the deaf student plans to
submit video responses in American Sign Language. |
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Are the appropriate hardware and equipment available? |
Instructors, students, and service providers need to evaluate the
capacity of their computer or mobile devices, quality of webcams,
and quality of headsets and microphones. If students or service
providers need equipment, identify campus resources for loaning the
needed equipment. |
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Is high-speed internet access available? |
If the course involves synchronous activities, high-speed internet is
crucial. The video connection needs to be reliable and clear enough to
follow conversations; use an Ethernet cable for a better connection. If
high-speed internet is not available at home, find an alternate location.
Consider creating a secure and private space with high-speed internet in the disability services office for service providers. |
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What activities occur outside of class time? |
Accessibility plans need to consider office hours, tutoring support,
and group work. Consider how accommodations will be provided for
these activities. |
Be Familiar With Accommodations for Online Courses
Online accommodations often require different considerations from face-to-face courses. Consider implementing a trial-and-error period to figure out what works best for the student. Ensure that instructors, service providers, and students have thought through the logistics for providing accommodations online. It helps when everyone is on the same page. For example, if an instructor has a better understanding of how assistive listening systems work, the instructor may be more thoughtful about improving audio quality. NDC has some resources to help—see our Remote Services page for more.
| Question | Considerations |
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Assistive Listening Systems
Students who use assistive listening systems may need to consider streaming audio to their personal hearing devices (e.g., hearing aids and cochlear implants) or using noise-reducing headphones for clearer audio access. For more information, see our Assistive Listening Systems 101 resource. |
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Note Taking and Transcripts
Notetaking:
Transcripts:
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Alt Text and Visual Descriptions
Alternative text (alt text) and visual descriptions are text-based descriptions of visual content. These benefit blind, deafblind, and lowvision students. Alt text is typically hidden by internet browsers but can be read by screen readers. Visual descriptions go into more detail and can be used in image captions, embedded in the body of the text, or uploaded as attachments. There are many different strategies for adding alt text or visual descriptions to your content, depending on the platform. Some platforms automatically add alt text, but check for accuracy! |
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Captioned Media and Speech-to-Text Services
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Being Proactive and Responsive Is a Win!
Incorporating these strategies helps make courses more universally accessible to all students. Being proactive saves time and money in the long run and streamlines accommodations implementation. Being responsive ensures that deaf students feel welcomed, listened to, and supported as they navigate online learning. These strategies can help your institution support optimal online experiences for deaf students, and the strategies are also beneficial for hearing students. Check out additional resources, professional development, and support from NDC today!
