Creating an accessible digital world requires people to design and build that world to be accessible. However, most designers, developers, and product managers learn very little, if anything about accessible computing, and most organizations do not prioritize it. The result is that most digital experiences are inaccessible.
To change this, we must teach accessible computing to everyone—designers envisioning software functionality, engineers building software, data scientists analyzing software use, policymakers regulating software requirements, and even everyday information workers who need to ensure that communication, documents, and processes are accessible to everyone.
Do you teach computing or information topics? Learn more below about how to integrate accessibility topics into your teaching.
Get Started
If you teach computing in K-12 or higher education, a good place to start is the community-led book Teaching Accessible Computing. Written and maintained by faculty across North America with experience integrating accessibility topics into computing courses, the book offers three things:
Accessibility and disability foundations, to give you confidence with basics of accessibility and disability.
Accessible computing knowledge and skills that are relevant to each specific area of computer science, so you can identify things to teach in your classes.
Concrete ideas for lessons, assignments, and lectures, demonstrating how to integrate accessibility into your course.
The book is a living document, and so expect it to evolve as authors learn more about teaching accessible computing. It’s designed for teachers and faculty to read just the most relevant chapters and get initial ideas for how to bring accessibility into their teaching.
You can also watch a presentation on some of the basics, including a talk from Richard Ladner and Matt May on Teaching Accessibility and a panel webinar on teaching accessibility.
Learn More
Once you have those foundations, there are many ways to engage more deeply:
Engage with Teach Access, an advocacy organization with more detailed resources, grants, and communities of educators committed to teaching accessibility.
Read curated research on teaching accessible computing to learn what works, or scan a collection of relevant research papers.
Review others’ curricula and lesson plans for ideas.
See the 2023 ACM Curriculum Guidelines for teaching accessibility.