The most important thing that I have learned from the various readings and viewings about the challenges and opportunities of making learning accessible is the need for prudence and vigilance. Moving forward with haste can easily create a learning environment that is lacking the proper accessibilities.
The video Make Technology Work for Everyone: introducing digital accessibility provided a simplistic understanding of the need for digital accessibility, and opened my eye’s to possible implementations of such accessibilities. I was surprised, and grateful, to learn that accessibility will be “important to at least 60 percent of my audience (Fix the Web, 2015).” 60 percent is a far greater percentage than I could have possibly imagined. Such a high percentage will require a constant focus on accessibility in an ever-changing learning environment.
Aside from the aforementioned challenge of being constantly mindful of accessibility, doing so can provide great opportunities. According to the various findings of a Pew Report titled Digital Differences, internet use and the manner in which it is accessed has greatly increased and diversified (Zickuhr & Smith, 2012). While we must address the issue of accessibility for all internet users, we should also be excited for the opportunities that await us in teaching a generation that is more digital than ever. Providing equal access to this digital group will allow for a diverse flow of ideas and a learning environment that can meet the needs of a greater community.
Laws geared at increasing accessibility and enabling the opportunities associated with such equity has become a global endeavor. The Bologna Declaration in June 1999 brought together 46 European countries with the single goal of accessibility and equity for all underrepresented groups who wish to obtain an education (Lane, 2012). These laws and initiatives in Europe hope to achieve a goal similar to that of many law makers and educators in many other parts of the world: diversity in educations through the implementations of equal opportunities for all.
[Fix the Web]. (2015, May 21). Make Technology Work for Everyone: introducing digital accessibility. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ik_LHmZx8Y&feature=youtu.be
Lane, A. (2012). A review of the role of national policy and institutional mission in European
distance teaching universities with respect to widening participation in higher education
study through open educational resources. Distance Education, 33(2), 135-150. doi:
10.1080/01587919.2012.692067
Zickuhr , K., & Smith, A. (2012). Digital Differences. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pewinternet.org/2012/04/13/digital-differences/
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