Inclusive Teaching

• Examine your curriculum – Seek out reading materials, methodologies and other work created by a diverse array of authors and leaders.  
• Review your syllabus – To make your syllabus inclusive, visit Universal Design for Learning for more guidelines.

• Use readable fonts for documents – Simple fonts without serifs, like Arial or Calibri, can make your text more readable, especially for learners with dyslexia. Try to minimize use of ALL-CAPITALIZED TEXT or italics, as these have lower readability than standard text. 
• Assess if your course is accessible with the Accessibility tab in Canvas – Reach out to your Program Manager if you want to improve the accessibility of your course. They will direct you to the right resources. 

• Learn and use students’ names & pronouns. Correct yourself quickly if you make a mistake with pronouns or pronunciation. Ask students to put their name and pronouns on a name tag or Zoom title. 
• Model inclusive language. Use gender neutral language for groups, occupations, and people whose pronouns you do not know. When you use U.S. English idioms, explain them for the benefit of non-native English speakers.​ 
• Establish ground rules for interaction. This will ensure that other students are also being inclusive and respectful. Communicate avenues for students to hold you and each other accountable for microaggressions.  
• Create multiple modalities for engagement. Use polls, chat (private or public), trivia contests, and other ways to gather student input as ways to engage beyond “hand raising” for responses.  

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) set new standard for digital accessibility and Continuum is working toward making all our Canvas courses readily accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities.

• Create accessible files: PDFs often have accessibility issues. The easiest way to make a PDF accessible is to begin in the document’s native format and run the accessibility checker to fix any issues. Then, save the document as a PDF and upload to Canvas.
• Check accessibility items inside – Accessibility Checklist – IT Connect 
• Read guidelines and watch tutorials on UW Accessible Technology site  – Accessibility Tools and Resources 
• Visit Accessibility Training Opportunities for more resources
• Provide accommodation for students with disabilities. Instructors are required by law to provide reasonable accommodation to students with documented disabilities.  
• UW’s Disability Services Office (DSO) provides accommodation, referral information, and assistance for nonmatriculated students with a documented physical, mental, or sensory disability.  
• Matriculated UW students can request accommodations through UW’s Disability Resources for Students (DRS). 
• Record online synchronous class sessions with Zoom. Posting class recordings in your Canvas course allows students to engage with the content asynchronously. Granting students the flexibility to view or review content at their own pace adheres to best practice guidelines for inclusivity and accessibility. UW’s Panopto/Zoom Integration can automate the process and extend the retention period of the recordings in your course.
• Add Closed Captions or Live Transcript for Zoom sessions. Turning on this feature automatically generates subtitles of spoken in-meeting communications. This can improve participants’ ability to follow the conversations and meet accessibility requirements.
• Caveats: 
  • Note: Automatically generated captions are not 100% accurate, and can vary in accuracy depending on audio quality and the accent of the speaker. In some cases, inaccurate captions may be distracting. We recommend testing this feature. If recording sessions with the Panopto/Zoom integration enabled, you can use the Panopto editing feature to quickly edit names, places, or subject-matter-specific language that may have transcribed inaccurately.  
  • Due to the potential for inaccuracy, automated captioning will not satisfy a formal accommodation request. If you have a student who requires this accommodation, please work with your program manager and the appropriate office for disability services to request professional captioning services. 

• Promote and use platforms where students can ask questions and share ideas with their classmates as they delve into course materials. 
• Include a project or collaborative activity where students can work together for part of a class session or over several sessions during your course.  
• Include peer review for larger projects so that students can practice providing constructive feedback to their peers and get exposure to different perspectives and approaches to course topics. 
• Look at the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework to learn more about social, cognitive, and teaching presence.

• Establish a friendly, open atmosphere that shows students you will help them learn and creates a sense of belonging and community. 
• Tap the experiences of the participants, thereby recognizing and valuing what they bring to the course. 
• Moderate the level of stress that students experience in your course, as too much stress can be a barrier to learning. 

Encourage students to network with each other in class and after the certificate concludes, whether using social media platforms like LinkedIn or simply trading contact information.