Accessible Course Design
A CAT Talk titled "Accessible Course Design" originally presented for CAT+FD on 20 October 2026 by Dr. Jason Todd
Abstract
The accommodations that show up most often for college students, such as extended time on exams, copies of slides, recorded lectures, and flexible deadlines, often point to barriers that can be designed out of a course before the semester begins. This webinar contrasts the reactive work of individual accommodation with the proactive approach of universal design, while acknowledging that design never replaces the formal accommodation process. Three practices that stand on their own merits can ease faculty workload during the early weeks of the semester:
- Delivering core content in more than one format
- Offering two or three assignment options graded with a single outcome-based rubric
- Reconsidering time limits on quizzes and tests.
The session closes with the “plus-one” challenge adapted from Tobin and Behling’s Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: make one targeted change at a single pinch point in a spring course, then build from there.