More accessible course material for everyone

• Provide students with tools to help them process information, such as "underlining key words", "looking up unfamiliar words" or by providing a self-test.  

• Try to use a synthesis of the course material (e.g. at the end of a chapter), structure markers, key words, etc. to explicitise the main and secondary themes of your course. 

• In addition, you should also consider the affordability of your course materials, or provide alternatives. 
  

• Have a look at the Universal Design for Didactic Principles and Didactic Methods for more tips and tricks. 
  

• This is necessary for students who use screen readers or screen magnifiers. It also allows colourblind students to adjust colours and contrasts. The Support Centre for Inclusive Higher Education has a great deal of advice on making course content accessible to screen readers.  

• Provide course materials in a timely manner. Provide your learning materials and slides in advance. This will allow your students to come to class prepared. Students with a disability (e.g. learning disability, ASD), multilingual students (e.g. vocabulary processing), students with limited prior knowledge, .... really need this.   

• ​Make class recordings available to accomodate (working) students. Students who did not understand class content are then able to watch a recording afterwards, which provides reassurance during class. Keep in mind that this possibility may vary according to your Faculty and Programme.   

• ​Use teaching methods and digital tools that allow students to collaborate with each other and contribute to the content of your course. 

​Check out the guidelines for creating accessible documents:   ​

• Use a sans serif font. Do not italicise, underline or use bold.  
• Provide limited and large text on one slide  
• Use contrasting colours.  

Make sure your text is well structured:  

• Provide a table of contents
  
• Use elements such as symbols, short paragraphs, signal words, subheadings, etc. 
• Use diagrams to explain difficult terms 

Provide captions or alt-text for images so that visually impaired students can use assistive technology to understand what is depicted in an image. 

Always consider both Dutch and English subtitles for hearing-impaired, neuro-divergent or multilingual students. 

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• Abbreviations or technical terms are preferably written out or explained in full the first time they are used, for example by putting a hyperlink under these terms. Words that seem to be obvious are sometimes not as obvious to students. Examples: arbitrary, hypothesis, convergent, causal, ethical, contradiction, prefixes such as intra- and hyper-, cognitive, ... So, create a common glossary that everyone can use. List important terms or technical concepts and give appropriate explanations.   

• Consider language assistance when needed e.g. intermediate steps in complex tasks, subdivisions in a text, etc... For written assistance, you can refer Dutch-speaking students to online tools such as "De Schrijfassistent" (VRT) or "De Schrijfhulp Nederlands" (De Standaard) for tips and feedback on writing.  

• If possible, offer both Dutch and English alternatives.