Course Syllabus Tutorial
The Ohio State University Partnership Grant, Improving the Quality of Education for Students with Disabilities has created a collection of "Fast Facts for Faculty" that provide the foundation for the Ferris University syllabus development guidelines available at http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/colleges/university/disability/faculty/syllabus.cfm An additional resource for designing a syllabus with accessibility in mind is available from Emory University at http://www.portals.emory.edu/sylideas.html.
In addition to the recommendations posted at the Ferris site, please keep in mind that course syllabi created in an accessible digital format – as a web page, for example – go a long way towards meeting the needs of a wide range of learners. A syllabus posted online in the appropriate format (see the web Accessibility module for more detail) can be read aloud by a screen reader for a blind student, it can be magnified for a student with low vision, it can be read aloud by synthetic speech and saved as an MP3 audio file and transferred to a portable MP3 player, it can be transferred to a Braille file, and it can be instantaneously (and relatively accurately) translated into almost any language.
Course/Lecture notes
The same flexibility provided by the online version of a syllabus can also be applied to course and/or lecture notes. If your instructional style allows you to post course or lecture notes prior to or immediately after your course meeting period, you create an accessible archive for students who need your course-related information in a flexible format, you minimize the need for student note takers during class periods and you provide ALL students with an alternative posting of the points, topics and ideas that YOU consider most important. Online course/lecture notes are not only accessible, but they can serve as sequenced study guides for all students and help reinforce concepts introduced in class.
 | Video Clip: Flexible Instruction Duration: 0.9 minutes  |
