Practical tips for accessible teaching

When you begin to reflect on how to modify your teaching to be more accessible, it is a good idea to start from the learning outcomes of a course unit or an assignment and clarify them. What are the learning outcomes? In which different ways can they be achieved? Which parts of the current exercise/teaching method etc. could be modified in a way that does not hinder achieving the learning outcomes?

In many cases, teachers may be used to carrying out an exercise in a particular way even though the learning outcomes could also be achieved in an alternative manner. For example, as a teacher, you may be used to carrying out an assignment as an essay even if writing an essay as such is not the learning outcome of the assignment. For some students, writing may be a challenge and the essay may not reflect their true competence. Alternatively, could the skills and learning be presented in a podcast, portfolio, or video, for example?

Here are some practical tips to make your teaching more accessible. You do not have to do everything at once, but you can pick a few tips from the list that are appropriate for your courses.

Lecture materials and other learning materials

Check that your learning materials comply with the provisions in the Digital Services Act. Read about the Act on the Provision of Digital Services and accessibility.
Ensure that you have multichannel versions of your materials so that the same information is available in several formats (audio, text, video etc.).
Distribute the material in a format that allows the student to modify, for example, the font, colours, etc., to make it accessible to them.
Make the materials available to students in advance of the lecture or other teaching situation and ensure that they are available to students afterwards.
Ensure the clarity of materials: eg not too much text on one slide, no background images behind the text, a clear font (eg Arial). No scanned materials or materials in image format.
Use Tampere Universities’ Office templates. They have been made accessible in terms of colour and style. Download Office templates from the Marketing Bank.
Ensure the availability and accessibility of literature at the University Library: a sufficient number of books, preferably as regular and electronic books.

Teaching situations

Tampere University’s checklist for teachers (PDF file in Finnish & English)
Create an accepting, safe, and positive atmosphere:
- Make it clear that you are available to students and tell them how they can contact you.
- Tell the students that you can be contacted about individual support needs (eg special arrangements).
- Be interested in hearing everyone’s thoughts and genuinely encounter the students; for example, ask for their news and share your own.
At the beginning of the teaching situation, go over what to expect: the topic and what will happen in the teaching situation, assignments, breaks, etc.
Also go over the practical instructions: eg how to ask to speak, when and how to ask questions.
Go through what will be taught clearly, at a calm pace and make sure that everyone keeps up and has time to take notes, for example.

Instructions and assignments

At the beginning of the course, discuss the course practices with the students: eg timetables, learning environments, communication channels and assessment criteria. The same information should also be available in text form, for example, on the Moodle course area.
Introduce the assignments to the students at the beginning of the course (unless there is a specific pedagogical reason not to, eg weekly assignments may be known at the beginning of each week, but even then it is good if the students know to expect a new assignment each week).
Pay attention to the clarity of the assignments. Extensive assignments can be broken down (what to do first, what to do next) and timetabled, or the student can be supported in this if needed.
Remember to communicate any changes as early and clearly as possible.

Assessment

Where possible, offer alternative ways of demonstrating competence (eg an essay or learning diary as an alternative for an exam; an oral assignment as an alternative for a long written assignment; the oral completion of a written assignment).
Ensure that there is enough time for handing in the assignments.
Ensure that students have enough time for exams.

Group work

Be sure to also provide instructions for group work: eg which platform is used, how to schedule the assignments and how they are shared among the group members.
Make sure that each student can find the group. It is a good practice for the teacher to allocate the groups or for the groups to be allocated – eg on Moodle – by registering for a specific group eg based on what suits the students’ timetable.

Interaction

During the course, make sure that students have the opportunity to participate in the discussion and ask questions via multiple channels: verbally in the classroom, in chat, in writing eg on Moodle or by email directly from the teacher also after the class.

Continuous feedback

Give the students interim feedback during the course to help them adjust their actions.
Make sure the students can give feedback and influence the implementation of the course while the course is still ongoing.