Carin Is Presenting AT CSUN 2023

If you’re at the CSUN conference this week, you may not be reading this because looking at that schedule of events tells me that holy crap, there’s a lot going on down there. But if you have managed to find a couple minutes of free time to play around on the internet, allow me to fill some of it by telling you that Carin is presenting tomorrow. If you’re involved in creating or teaching courses online or even if you’re an educator in need of some pointers that can help you offline as well, you may want to go check that out. Here be the details.

Enabling Effective Learning Online for Screen Reader Users
Date & Time
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 – 3:20 PM PST  
Location
Grand AB  
Description
Enabling effective learning online involves the inclusive use of educational technology, learning experiences and teaching practices, together with a connected community. This is especially important when you have learners using assistive technologies, especially screen readers. As a native screen reader user, I will share points in this session that are critical to designing online learning for screen reader users. I will also highlight how such design provides a “curb-cut” advantage to all learners. To begin with, learning technologies must work with screen readers. For that to happen those technologies must align with accessibility standards. This could also make these learning technologies more usable with other assistive technologies. Next, the learning materials must be created keeping non-visual access in mind. This requires that content creators are aware of the needs of screen reader users. If not, they would be introducing barriers to learning. Further, the teaching practices must be inclusive. This involves making the curriculum, instruction, and assessment usable by learners with diverse needs. Finally, it will be easier for everyone if they work together as a community and learn from one another. In summary, inclusive design of technology, content, pedagogy, and community is critical to making online learning accessible. Even if one of these components is not accessible, the learning experience will not be accessible.

She’ll be using a lot of her own experiences as a student at various stages of her education to try to make things relatable. I think there’s even one in there about me and the day I nearly committed a homicide when it was brought to my attention that the community component had failed me spectacularly. What more could you ask for?

She’ll also be in town until Friday evening, so say hello if you see her around. She says she hasn’t bumped into anyone she knows yet, but I’m sure that will change once things get started.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.