Why Collaboration Matters for Accessible and Inclusive Teaching and Learning

[MarisaBluestone]

Accessibility is fundamentally important to the teaching and learning journeys of people with disabilities. It is a cornerstone of creating inclusive learning environments that support student and faculty success, no matter their abilities. But creating truly effective learning environments requires more than just policies—it requires good communication and collaboration between students, faculty, and administrators with disabilities. By working together, institutions can create practices that meet real needs and foster an inclusive educational experience for everyone.

At Macmillan Learning, we understand the importance of integrating accessibility into the design of our courseware and content. We established a board of expert advisors to help us better understand how accessibility is being addressed on different campuses and to learn what we can do to help foster an even more inclusive learning environment. We discussed with them some of the challenges that they’re seeing most on campus as well as solutions that they recommend to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to succeed.

Accessibility thrives when people with disabilities are included in the conversation, and that's why history professor Dr. Suzanne Ament at Radford University and Jeff Toorongian, Director of the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning and the Campus ICT Accessibility Coordinator at Michigan Technological University both brought up collaboration and communication as areas for improvement in the accessibility landscape. As Dr. Ament, who is blind, noted: the people who need the services should have a say in what goes on—or at least have a voice in that determination.

Gaps in Today’s Accessibility Landscape

Despite significant progress, accessibility programs and services have room to grow to support the teaching and learning needs of people with disabilities. Differences in technological know-how, uneven resources, and varying levels of support mean that not everyone has equal access to the tools they need. Moreover, accessibility efforts often center on students, leaving faculty and staff with disabilities overlooked and undersupported. As Dr. Ament noted, “The office for accessibility at my institution, even with its limited resources, is only for students.” Faculty and staff with disabilities deserve clear processes for receiving the teaching support that they need. A stronger focus on communication and collaboration could help close these gaps, ensuring that all members of the educational community have the tools and support they need.

There is also a lack of comprehensive training for instructors–many don’t know how to best integrate accessibility into their course design. Jeff Toorongian, a digital accessibility expert, noted “Instructors often have limited or no knowledge of digital accessibility and rarely can commit the time necessary to learn and then remediate their content.” That can leave educators feeling unequipped to provide accessible learning environments for all students.

Adding to that, there can also be inconsistent communication between departments, leading to confusion and delays in implementing necessary accommodations. This leaves faculty and staff without the support they need, as offices responsible for these services often don’t have the right tools or resources to step in quickly and effectively. Clear processes and communication can create a more efficient system for supporting people with disabilities on campus. 

Why Collaboration Matters

Creating truly effective and accessible solutions requires the input of those who use them. Both students and faculty with disabilities offer a unique perspective that can shed light on what works and what doesn’t. Their lived experiences are critical in shaping policies and practices that genuinely meet their needs. Dr. Ament expressed concern that faculty are often left out of these conversations: “Textbooks may be made accessible, but the teachers’ manuals? The clicker program—is that readable quickly for the instructor?” 

Jeff Toorongian echoed the importance of collaboration in solving accessibility challenges, noting that while tools like LMS accessibility checkers are helpful, “some materials can’t realistically be made accessible,” which shows just how important alternative solutions developed from the feedback of the students and faculty that use them can be.

Educators’ lived experiences can help guide the creation of solutions that are both functional and truly inclusive. Dr. Ament shared a personal story where collaboration made all the difference: “Once I was on a panel about disability. I was paired with a deaf speaker. I do not know ASL, and that person could not hear me. There was not an official interpreter there, which would have prevented the problem, and I think what we did was use one of her friends who knew some signing to help out.” 

Similarly, Jeff Toorongian shared a success story where collaboration with a student improved accessibility outcomes: “A quick check in Canvas revealed dozens of scanned PDF files that were completely inaccessible. Realizing that working with the instructor to fix the documents would take too much time, I introduced the student to the alternative formats feature of our Ally accessibility tool in Canvas. The student was able to request alt format documents that allowed him to use his speech-to-text software more successfully.”

Accessibility should be a collaborative effort, where the voices of those directly impacted play a central role in shaping policies and practices. With the rise of new technologies, including generative AI, accessibility solutions are becoming more advanced and collaboration will be more necessary than ever. Toorongian expressed optimism about the role of AI in this field, noting that “GenAI tools will continue to make a positive impact in the accessibility field,” but stressed that human input is still essential to validate these tools’ accuracy.

By removing barriers to education, accessibility in both digital and physical spaces helps foster an inclusive environment where every student can fully participate and engage. Importantly, having learning materials and experiences that are accessible helps to ensure that all students, regardless of their abilities, have the same kinds of opportunities to succeed and thrive. At Macmillan Learning, we’re proud to play a part in this journey, and we encourage institutions everywhere to make accessibility a shared priority. After all, when we design with accessibility in mind, we design for everyone’s success.

Read more practical tips from faculty advisors about how to enhance accessibility in your classroom and check out these practical steps you can take to ensure you’re ready for Title II changes.

Dr. Suzanne Ament is a history professor at Radford University who is also totally blind. While she never studied accessibility, her life experiences provide important expertise and help contribute to the conversation and knowledge base on accessibility. Dr Ament is a Russian historian and linguist by training and also teaches World History and History of China.

Jeff Toorongian is the Director of the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning and the Campus ICT Accessibility Coordinator at Michigan Technological University. As ICT Coordinator he leads a small team of staff that work diligently to address digital accessibility issues across the campus. This includes continuously monitoring the college’s public web and the thousands of documents posted there as well as the accessibility of content in their Canvas learning management system. He provides training and consultation to staff and instructors on how to remove digital barriers from their content.