What
makes a virtual youth program accessible to people with disabilities? Many of
us are good at making physical spaces accessible, but many forget, or don't
know, that virtual programs also take special considerations to ensure they are
accessible to all.
When
planning virtual programs, we must keep those with disabilities at the front of
our minds. Having a truly accessible virtual program takes some thought at every
stage of planning.
What is accessible?
According
to the ADA
Compliance for Online Course Design, accessible means that a learning
opportunity is equally available, enjoyable and of the same quality for those
with a disability as for those without a disability, without special
accomodation.
3 time frames
Accessibility
isn't "one and done." For youth program planning, there are three important time
frames:
·
Planning. Share with participants
beforehand how you will make the program accessible to them. It makes youth and
their families feel welcome and gives them a chance to request additional
accommodations, if needed.
· During. Include
accessible program elements such as descriptive language, captions, patience
with new technologies, and scheduled breaks. Offer meeting materials in accessible
formats. It often helps to have one staff member or volunteer responsible for
these elements.
·
After. As
educators, we always want to learn how to improve. After a program, ask for
feedback on how it could be improved.
Apply the 5 C’s of dropping out
·
Connect. We have
the ability to connect our programs to the participants’ future outside of our
program. This will encourage participants to take action and start seeing the
bigger picture outside of the here and now.
· Climate. In youth
development, climate is something I believe we all strive to make positive and
inclusive. Youth are more likely to participate in programming
where they feel safe.
· Control. In
developing our programs, we should encourage all youth to have some degree of
control over the path of their learning. Project based learning provides youth
with great opportunities to have this control. As educators, we should
encourage youth creativity.
· Curriculum. While it
is crucial to have curriculum planned for youth programs, it is important that
we allow space for our programs to be flexible in order to meet participant
needs, learning speed, and questions.
·
Care. Making programs accessible is one
of many ways we can show youth that we care about them.
Virtual
programs are a chance to reach new audiences with disabilities. What strategies
do you apply to your programs to make them more accessible?
Samantha Payne, Extension educator, 4-H youth development
As youth development professionals, the past few months have given us the opportunity to greatly grow in our programming skill set as we have invested in offering high quality learning environments virtually. Having recently completed a 3 day youth leadership conference all virtually, the feedback from the youth reminded us that virtual is not "less than" but for some youth the preferred learning environment for a variety of reasons, including easier accessibility. Barriers such as cost, transportation, having to be a room with 300 other people, staying away from home overnight all affect a young persons ability to fully participate in programming.
ReplyDeleteThis ability for youth programming to reach more youth is exciting as we continue to meet the needs of all youth. Thank you for highlighting such an essential component!