About Us

Who We Are 

This Accessible Course Materials Initiative is a long-standing partnership that includes Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL), the Disabled Students Program (DSP), IS&T Web Access Team, the Library, and Disability Access Services (DAC).

This site is maintained by Owen McGrath (Research Teaching & Learning, UC Berkeley). For questions, suggestions, or comments about this page or website, please send email toomcgrath@berkeley.edu

Purpose

The purpose of the Accessible Course Materials Initiative is to develop coordinated help and guidance to the campus community in ensuring that course materials delivered in digital form are accessible to all students. In digital documents, the absence of document structure, image descriptions, color contrast, table navigation, etc. can pose major barriers to students, such as those who rely on screen readers or screen magnification. Remediation and conversion of existing inaccessible course material is one approach to the problem. A better approach is to design accessible content from the start. This website provides help for both approaches. Where possible, the guidance we offer on this website is in the spirit of Universal Design for Learning(UDL), a pedagogical framework that promotes flexibility in accommodating learners’ individual needs and differences.

The Team

Research, Teaching, and Learning

Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL) is composed of several teams providing support for instructors and researchers at Berkeley. With leadership in their area of expertise, teams coordinate around consultations, resources, tools, and projects across RTL for the broader campus community.

 Research, Teaching, and Learning

Disabled Students Program

"While the primary focus and mission of DSP is to serve documented disabled students, DSP staff also work closely with faculty, as well as administrators and staff to build a more accessible learning environment. As instructors, by choosing class materials that require the least amount of extra effort to convert into accessible formats, you support our mandate to make all of our courses welcoming to the broadest range of students possible." -DSP

Accessible Content

The Library

"We recommend linking to public domain, library-licensed, or open-access online content rather than uploading copyrighted materials to your course site when possible." -The Library

Add Course Readings to bCourses

Berkeley Digital Accessibility

"While the Digital Accessibility Program is a new program at UC Berkeley, the history of digital accessibility at UCB is deep and inspiring. We are in the process of building out our team with long-time Berkeley staff as well as new faces. We will be updating our About page over the summer, so please check back for more information. We will include information on our team as well as the history of digital accessibility efforts at UC Berkeley." -DAP

Actions Required for UCB Community

Disability Access & Compliance

"Disability Access & Compliance (DAC) connects the UC Berkeley community with the resources, training, evaluative tools, and services that support equal access to students, staff, faculty, and visitors with disabilities to participate in university-sponsored non-course-related programs or activities." -DAC

Disability Access & Compliance