“Accessibility Basics and Your Teaching Practice” – February 21st, 2024

This CTEI “Webinette” (a 15-minute pedagogical presentation followed by 45 minutes of interactive discussion and Q&A) outlines the basics of accessible practices in our teaching when it comes to document creation and use – specifically, with PowerPoint slides (and the like). We define what the term “accessibility” means and why it is essential in our teaching roles at Yorkville U + TFS (and beyond) as well as identify and describe basic-level accessibility practices that you can immediately implement and apply with your teaching materials to enhance accessibility and remove barriers for student engagement and success.

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• Speaker Notes: CTEI Webinette – Accessibility Basics and Your Teaching Practice – Script – February 2025
• Additional information and resources:
  • Yorkville U + TFS Academic Accommodations and Accessibility Policy
  • Yorkville U + TFS Academic Accommodations & Accessibility Office: accessibility@yorkvilleu.ca
  • “Academic Accommodations and Accessibility Policy.” Dean of Student Success, Academic Accommodations and Accessibility Office, Yorkville University and Toronto Film School, 4 November 2021, https://www.yorkvilleu.ca/app/uploads/2024/01/Academic-Accommodations-and-Accessibility-Policy.pdf    
  • “Accessible Presentations.” Accessagogy Podcast, episode 5, Dr. Ann Gagné, 23 April 2023, https://anngagne.ca/podcast/episode-5-accessible-presentations/ 
  • “Accessible Word and PDF Documents.” Accessagogy Podcast, episode 6, Dr. Ann Gagné, 7 May 2023, https://anngagne.ca/podcast/episode-6-accessible-word-and-pdf-documents/  
  • “Create Accessible PowerPoint Presentations.” Digital Accessibility, Harvard University, https://accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/microsoft-powerpoint 
  • “Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations.” Accessibility Hub, Niagara College, https://accessibilityhub.niagaracollege.ca/articles/documents/creating-accessible-powerpoint-presentations/  
  • “Guide to Image Descriptions.” AccessiblePublishing.ca, https://www.accessiblepublishing.ca/a-guide-to-image-description/  
  • “Introduction to Accessible Education.” COU-AODA-Guide, Centre for Teaching and Learning, Western University, https://teaching.uwo.ca/img/teaching/COU-AODA-Guide.pdf  
  • “Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities.” PowerPoint, Office Accessibility, Microsoft Support, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/make-your-powerpoint-presentations-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6f7772b2-2f33-4bd2-8ca7-dae3b2b3ef25 
  • Zaza, Christine. “Enhancing Accessibility in Teaching in Learning Series 1: Accessibility Basics.” Centre for Teaching Excellence, YouTube, University of Waterloo, 1 February 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tzdVGRdMGA