Abstract:

There has been a rapid pivot to digital learning as a direct response to the challenges posed by Covid-19. As Universities have had to adapt to this ever-changing environment digital inclusion has never been more critical. During the Covid-19 pandemic it became clear that there is an appetite for high-quality open access digital teaching and learning materials (Eivers et al, 2020). In order to comply with European legislation passed in 2019, public sector organizations and private companies and organizations need to check the accessibility of their websites, mobile apps, and media content (Oncins and Orero, 2021). The educational publishing sector should also adhere to these common accessibility standards ensuring that digital content conforms to digital equity, diversity and inclusion principles (Mihut et al, 2021). However, we should also be considering to what extent individual lecturers at third level are complying with these accessibility standards and the impact that this has on both faculty and students. This paper will discuss the steps what some faculty at the University of Limerick have taken in order to ensure that their teaching and learning materials comply with the EU directive regarding accessibility. The paper also presents feedback from undergraduate and postgraduate students, in two different faculties, on their experiences of digital resources during the pandemic. The article offers some discussion on lessons learned and some practical advice on designing and developing digital resources that comply with the EU Directive on Accessibilty.

Keywords:

Accessibility, Universal Design for Learning, Video, Subtitles, Transcript, Podcasts.