COVID-19 and Accessibility: A Perspective from The Fred Smithers Centre

 Written by: Jennifer Green*

Photo from smu.ca

COVID-19 and its influence on the use of technology in remote settings are shedding new light on how technology can help adapt content for learning and accessibility. Arguably, all remote technology has become assistive technology. More than ever, connection and relationship-building are paramount in supporting staff, faculty, and students; however, technology shouldn't be the only thing we label as assistive.  COVID-19 is offering us a meaningful new perspective into the academic endeavours of those who are neuro and physically diverse. Challenges with accessibility and accommodations are now prominent in daily life— this time, not just for those with diverse abilities.  

As many are experiencing being unable to leave their homes for the first time, they are using new technology with remote assistance for limited interaction with the outside world. The need to effectively communicate with others has become paramount for our economic and academic sustainability.  Academic communities have been turned upside down as their ability to communicate has become limited, forcing them to look towards the use of perceivably unconventional platforms for instruction. Many accessibility champions are wondering why it has taken a pandemic to show us the true value of creating alternatives to traditional instruction and assessment with Universal Design for Learning.1

Now that most individuals have been forcibly faced with accessibility issues, we have to look at what can be learned from this in connection to academic accommodations. This is at the forefront of the work done at the Fred Smithers Centre. Steve Noel, long-standing Employer Advisor with the Centre comments, “[s]tudents with disabilities, under the best of circumstances, have to adapt and improvise all the time.  The goal of the Fred Smithers Centre has always been to provide supports and services that help to level the playing field and enable students with disabilities to learn more efficiently”. 

The impact of COVID with respect to accessibility and accommodations has been an opportunity to promote the use of content that everyone, including those with disabilities, can engage with and to support faculty in accommodating all students. Katherine Heim, Exam Assistant at the FSC, notes “[h]elping faculty members have an increased awareness around the need for accommodations, and how they are decided for each client, plays a key role in the working relationships with all parties involved in the accommodation process.” With these observations in mind, the importance of connection becomes critical to the implementation of remote teaching and learning strategies.

Navigating the need for accommodations and virtual platforms remains complicated and complex in daily life, both theoretically and practically. However, there is one binding element that bridges the gap between isolation and learning: connection. Heim believes that open dialogue has also been a key element in maintaining connection. “With the switch to remote working, we have been able to have more discussions with faculty members around accommodations for students with disabilities and why they are necessary not only in the classroom but as well as in virtual learning environments,” she states. The FSC team anticipates that this will continue once students return to campus and that emphasis on interconnectedness will remain foundational to the support offered. 

The COVID-19  experience has become the catalyst for change in the academic environment, and with it comes the need to incorporate a relational approach. Although difficult, we must let go of typical means of assessing accountability and allow students more accessible options to demonstrate course outcomes—perhaps not such an unconventional approach at the end of the day. If we can do it in a pandemic, why can’t we do it once it is over? After all, there have been several advantages. Kim Penny, Disability Resource Facilitator, believes that "the switch to online learning, [has] allowed students who would normally steer away from [online learning] to develop skills and strategies to manage the workload and in some ways, be able to work at their own pace where a scheduled class time could have barriers related to that." She expressed that by including a more diverse framework into the course content, "students with accessibility needs can feel more independent, which can help boost their self-esteem." 

Following the end of the Great Depression, Dale Carnegie wrote a best-selling book on leadership called How to Win Friends and Influence People. The novel’s success is attributable to its focus on our ability to connect with others, proving that our inherent motivation to support others is key to our recovery and future sustainability. With respect to COVID-19, what divided us has now given us a common understanding of not just what accessibility is, but what it can be. If these latest experiences have taught us anything, it is that connection is what we need the most.

Like many other Atlantic educational institutions, Saint Mary's University has proudly stepped up to Canada's fight against COVID-19. Within our collective learning, the principles of Universal Design1 and accessibility have been prosperous in supporting students to finish their semester. The implementation of remote teaching and learning will no doubt continue to be transformational. 

Kris Seibert, Accessibility Advisor, reflects:

“While initially, the switch to Remote Delivery of courses in mid-March caused a number of students to worry, it became clear very quickly that the SMU community rallied to provide students [with] a lot of options and flexibility to finish the Winter Semester courses. This quick and relatively uniform approach (with built-in accessibility and flexibility) no doubt paved the way for increased enrollment in the Spring and Summer Semesters of 2020. A record-high number of Saint Mary's students with disabilities are now enrolled in remote delivery courses for the Spring and Summer, so it is heartening to see that they are taking advantage of a difficult situation globally to accelerate their degree programs and continue their educational journeys.”

True accessibility is a connected experience, both physically and mentally. Present challenges in the era of COVID-19 are teaching us that accommodations have not always been synonymous with the concept of accessibility, yet this is what it should be. Moving forward, the Fred Smithers Centre will work to ensure that accessibility and accommodations are regarded as a fully sustainable fundamental right to the human experience.

*Jennifer Green is the new  Manager of Student Accessibility at the Fred Smithers Centre of Support for Students with Disabilities. 

1 Learn more about Universal Design here.

This article has been edited for clarity, the views expressed are those of the author.