Accessibility & Universal Design for Learning

An accessible learning environment is a necessary first step towards a more inclusive experience for all students. Blackboard strives to empower education institutions to create inclusive and accessible learning experiences.

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Why Does Creating an Inclusive Environment Matter?

All students benefit from a more inclusive environment. By leveraging pedagogy, content best practices and the right tools and technology, instructors can move towards implementing UDL principles into their courses that help each student take advantage of that benefit, not just those with a disclosed accommodation need.

The fact is that people learn in lots of different ways, and depending on the subject, you may choose a different method to learn along the way. To reduce barriers in learning, it is important to provide appropriate support, making information equally accessible to all learners by presenting the same content in varying materials.

Patricia Ritschel-Trifilo

Director of Online Learning

,

Wayland Baptist University

Expand Access to Education through Inclusive and Accessible Learning Experiences

Blackboard Ally

Personalised learning to support the diverse needs of 21st century learners and spark a culture-shift toward inclusive practice for instructors. A seamless integration within existing course workflows, Blackboard Ally for the LMS is available for Blackboard Learn, Open LMS, Canvas, Moodle, and D2L.

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Blackboard Ally for Web

Detailed reporting and feedback to systematically eliminate barriers to access at scale, and create a web presence that is responsive to the invisible needs of diverse site visitors. A CMS-agnostic solution, Blackboard Ally for Web provides enterprises with accessibility insights across their public-facing URLs, and allows site visitors to engage web content in a way that works best for them.

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Making Learning More Inclusive

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Is Your Higher Education Institution Accessible for All?

Students with disabilities have all the intellectual tools they need to thrive in higher education. Yet too many give up because of lack of accommodations which can create unnecessary barriers.

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It’s Time to Go Beyond Accessibility

How Inclusive Classrooms Grant Universal Access to Students

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Expanding Educational Opportunity

We’ve spoken with 20 educational leaders to learn more about how institutions tap technology to improve education and make it available for all students.

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Accessibility Checklist

Best practices for creating inclusive content. A quick-start reference to creating more accessible course content.

Want to learn how you can create more inclusive content? Download our checklist for tips.

Checklist