Accessibility: Information for Course Planners

Course planners are in the unique position to support accessible and inclusive course design from start to finish. As you create your process documentation for facilitating and designing continuing education courses, remember to build in a culture of accessibility before, during, and after the course.

Before the Course

 Course design: Make content accessible and inclusive to different learners.

• Utilize universal design for learning —and offer flexibility in how learners access materials and the instructional methods used to meet individual needs.
• Support opportunities to recognize social determinants of health (SDOH) and implement health equity awareness to support better treatment outcomes and quality of life.
• Implement person-centered content such as culturally responsive and trauma-informed perspectives.
• Be sensitive to selecting the dates and times of presentations in consideration of religious practices. 

Physical space: Ensure that all physical spaces are accessible and have appropriate technology. Account for all spaces—including parking lots, restrooms, elevators, and so forth.

• Ensure that spaces are wheelchair accessible.
• Make seating accessible and size inclusive.
• Offer access to assistive hearing devices, communication access realtime translation (CART), and/or interpreters, when appropriate.

Virtual platform: Ensure that virtual meeting platforms are accessible (e.g., platforms should be screen reader friendly, be responsive across different device types and screen sizes, and have the option to enable AI-generated captioning).

Accessibility information: Publish access information for your course in advance, so learners know what will be available and what they may need to request.

Registration form: Create a form or process that allows learners to request accommodations and dietary needs. Include accommodations such as American Sign Language (ASL), CART, electronic copies of materials, Braille copies of materials, or wheelchair access. Please note that this list is not all inclusive.

• Collect contact information so you can inform learners about their access requests.
• Incorporate opportunities for registrants to indicate honorifics and preferred pronouns. 

Instructor needs: Be mindful of their access, linguistic, and cultural needs—and give them opportunities in which to discuss their needs.  

CART, ASL, and other forms of translation: Contact your preferred vendor for these services.

• Create a list of required materials the vendor will need ahead of time from all speakers (e.g., bios, speaking notes, run of show). For more information, visit ASHA’s page on Collaborating With Interpreters, Transliterators, and Translators.

Pre-event meetings: Hold pre-event accessibility meetings where instructors, organizers, interpreters, and captioners can go over the course, if needed.

Access copies: Collect accessible copies (large print and/or digital copies) from instructors to make course content available to all learners. 

During the Course 

Microphones: Have mics available for all speakers during in-person courses, including one to pass to the audience if there is a Q & A.  

Reminders to instructors: Have instructors provide a script or a copy of their presentations/slides to ASL interpreters, transliterators, or translators, if present.  

Captions: Ensure that you are using CART, AI, or a combination.  

• Coordinate with the CART captioners, ASL interpreters, or translators. 
• For in-person events, ensure that interpreters are placed where the audience can easily see them. 
• For online events, discuss who is responsible for spotlighting interpreters and giving CART access to the captioner during the event. 

Reporting needs during the event: Provide learners with a way to report accessibility needs during the course. For example, if your course is a multi-day conference, learners may face unexpected needs: Be proactive and have a mechanism in place that allows them to report such needs to conference organizers.  

Access copies: Make physical copies of slides or handouts available to attendees.  

After the Course 

When designing any post-course materials or follow-up communications, keep the same accessible practices in mind that you used when designing the course.  

Post-event communications may include but are not limited to the following:  

Event recordings: If you record the event and make it available to learners, have a policy in place for reviewing captions and making a transcript available.

Course evaluations: Ensure that you collect evaluations using accessible tools. Your survey platforms should be screen reader friendly and responsive across different device types and screen sizes.

Feedback: Consider collecting feedback regarding course accessibility and inclusivity—and incorporate this feedback into your program improvement process.