Â鶹AV

SKILLS21 is on hold for the 2024/25 academic year. If you have questions about recognition of your participation, please email myinvolvement [at] mcgill.ca.

Accessible Workshop Design

Â鶹AV

What is accessibility?ÌýÌý

The design of products, devices, services, information and environments ensuring their use by people with disabilities. More specifically, accessibility enables people with disabilities to perceive, navigate, understand, and interact with products, devices, services, information and environments as well as contribute to their development.Ìý

SKILLS21 participants vary in readiness levels, life experiences, perceptual differences, language abilities, and more. UDL practices help reduce barriers to learning and support teaching strategies that help meet the needs of all learners.

See the Inclusive workshop toolkit for ideas on translating UDL into workshop facilitation.

Three Principles for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Consider the following principles as you design and deliver your SKILLS21 workshops:Ìý

  1. ProvidingÌýMultiple Means of Representation: Offering information in more than one modality (how information is shown). E.g. using slides, handouts, glossaries, videos, etc.ÌýÌý
  2. ProvidingÌýMultiple Means of Action and Expression: Providing different ways for students to interact with material and demonstrate what they know and what they have learned (how people participate) E.g. provide appropriate time for different contexts like written test vs. oral presentation vs. group project
  3. ProvidingÌýMultiple Means of Engagement: Providing different ways for students to engage with the material. E.g. small group discussions, activities, presentations

For descriptions of these principles and how to include them, visit the Â鶹AV Office for Students with DisabilitiesÌýWebsite.

Keep in mind when...

Initiating a workshop

  • If possible: Ask about accessibility needs on registration formÌýÌý
  • Have an accessibility statement with contact information in registration formÌý
  • Choose the right platform and use captionÌýÌý
  • Build in breaks

Promoting workshops online

  • Use plain languageÌý
  • Add alternative text (image descriptions and video captioning)ÌýÌý
  • Use descriptive links
  • Ensure effective color contrastÌýÌý

8 Tips for Making Your Workshop More Accessible

This document from the Office for Students with Disabilities helps you keep accessibility in mind while designing your workshop.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Videos

In these videos from the Office for Students with Disabilities, Â鶹AV instructors shareÌýtools they've used to make their classrooms more inclusive.

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While this web page is accessible worldwide, Â鶹AV is on land which has served and continues to serve as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. Teaching and Learning Services acknowledges and thanks the diverse Indigenous peoples whose footsteps mark this territory on which peoples of the world now gather. This land acknowledgement is shared as a starting point to provide context for further learning and action.


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