While early literature in accessibility services in postsecondary education largely focused on physically disabled students, their presence in the peer-reviewed literature from 1951-2012 was described as sparse by Gelbar et al. (2015). The studies that existed were largely descriptive, and no studies investigated the effectiveness of…

This article describes two practices employed to close the knowledge gap around accessibility at a postsecondary institution. Practice One integrated accessibility training within existing professional development requirements. Practice Two used a multi-session accessibility training addressing knowledge gaps identified by training registration…

The need to create accessible digital materials became evident when the COVID-19 pandemic shifted nearly all learning online in 2020 and early 2021. Inspired to create professional development that was sensitive to our campus needs at a challenging time, the campus Workgroup on Accessibility Practices created an intervention in the form of a…

The identification and understanding of essential roles and functions in a profession, through the application of job analysis methods, can serve as a guide to develop and hone professional competency. The last such analysis of accessibility services administrators in postsecondary education was published in 1997. A variety of changes in the field…

People with disabilities rely on a range of accessible technologies to interface with the digital world. However, their needs are often not considered when developing applications in introductory computer sciences courses. These courses traditionally focus on teaching technical skills that do not include those for designing and developing…

With approximately six million people who are blind, between the ages of 16-75+ years of age in the U.S., audio description (AD) is one way to increase people with disabilities' access when visual images are involved (American Council of the Blind, 2019). Snyder (2014) described AD as a verbal description of a program (i.e., performing arts,…

Various education laws in China clearly state that students with disabilities should be provided with the opportunities to fully participate in all activities in society, including studying at higher education institutions (HEIs). The present descriptive study examines physical accessibility of three university campuses in China. A checklist for…

Despite laws in the United States (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its 2008 Amendments), students with various disabilities continue to experience access barriers to instructional content and inclusion in course activities. Online learning environments can present especially…

While more universities are including IT accessibility in their computer science programs for undergraduate and graduate students, there is little accessibility training available for K-12 teachers. We created an intervention through which postsecondary students had opportunities to experience five computer games with a simulated impairment…

Although more students with disabilities are attending university than ever before, many still have difficulties with the transition from high school. Transition research has extensively examined the factors and barriers that support or hinder successful transitions for students with disabilities. However, there has been little explicit focus on…

Physical accessibility at colleges and universities is a perennial and challenging issue. Some campuses have made efforts to address these challenges through a variety of advocacy initiatives, while others have used disability simulations to bring greater awareness of physical accessibility to campus communities. An alternative approach to…

Postsecondary students with disabilities underutilize career services (CS) and report systemic barriers when trying to do so. Disability resource (DR) professionals rarely have the experience to advise students on employment issues such as internship opportunities, disclosure during interviews, and how to obtain workplace accommodations. Research…

Research suggests that students' encounters with professors can be a barrier to students fully accessing disability-related accommodations. This paper describes the use of a clinical simulation as a practice to understand and support how students engage with professors in discussions about disability-related accommodations. The authors detail the…

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (2008) and elevation of self-reported information in determining disability status and eligibility for accommodations, a debate has been raging in the field about the importance of disability documentation, documentation guidelines, self-reported information, and protocols…

Students with disabilities continue to experience barriers to accessing tertiary (i.e., postsecondary) education in Australia. Using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) may help educators proactively address barriers through the design of more accessible and inclusive educational experiences. However, at present, references to…