Beyond Compliance: Why Accessible Course Content Matters
With state and federal mandates elevating the conversation — and pressure — regarding accessibility for students, it’s easy to forget that for some, accessible course content means the difference in being able to learn.
The Instructional Support Team in the Office of Distance Learning has been supporting faculty in improving online course accessibility for more than a decade.
Dr. Francesco Crocco, assistant director for instructional support, says his team has long discussed the value of universal accessibility.
“As it applies to education, universal accessibility means taking proactive steps to ensure course content is delivered in a way that meets the needs of the most students possible,” he says.
“What the federal and state mandates do, is move us from a reactive posture where students must ask for accommodation to a proactive posture where all course materials are designed to be accessible by anyone without the need to retrofit or provide additional accommodations.”
This approach, he says, can improve outcomes across the student population regardless of ability.
That doesn’t mean the process is simple or easy, but the Office of Distance Learning is committed to supporting faculty along the way.
Making Courses Better for Everyone
Dr. Kristin Gardner, instructor in the Department of Criminal Justice, says she understands both the student need and the instructional undertaking of ensuring course accessibility.
Dr. Gardner has a hearing impairment and frequently uses resources like video captions but acknowledges that ensuring her online lectures are accurately captioned is a process.
“Because I am deaf or hard of hearing, I love the captions on video,” she says. “But it can be very frustrating because, you know, on top of your regular job, you're going to have to edit the videos, and then import the captions, and then make sure the captions line up with the timestamp.
“But I do it because I understand that it can be hard. To me, that is one of the key ways to make the course accessible to everybody.”
Dr. Gardner has taught online courses for both the ѻƵ at Lafayette and institutions in Virginia and Florida and has unilaterally heard students request and appreciate resources like video captions.
She’s also experienced first-hand the challenge when course content isn’t universally accessible.
Despite having proper ADA documentation as an undergrad, a professor denied her accommodation, refusing to provide copies of presentation slides. The instructor would speak while displaying slides on an overhead projector, leaving Gardner — who relies on lip reading — unable to follow along.
"I have my head down to write, and I couldn't catch anything she was saying," Dr. Gardner recalls. “Even though I got her a letter, she accused me of using it to get a leg up on my classmates.”
Once she began teaching, she wanted to make sure her students had a level playing field.
“I did everything I could to make learning as easy as possible and as fair as possible for students in my class with disabilities, whatever those disabilities were,” Dr. Gardner says. “It's so important to me that everyone be given the opportunity to learn the material.”
Many of her criminal justice courses have only recently been developed at UL Lafayette, and Dr. Gardner says she’s still in the thick of making sure they’ll fully comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements.
“Right now, it's stressing me out, and it's intimidating,” she says. “But, I know, ultimately, it's going to make a better course for everyone.”
Accessibility Beyond Video Captions
Providing video captions has been a long-standing accessibility standard as part of the ѻƵ’s online course design foundations. Panopto, an EduTool supported by the Office of Distance Learning for recording and editing instructional video, has included an feature for several years.
Additional have included:
- for images and graphs.
- Using .
- Avoiding .
- Only .
Beginning April 2026, courses will also need to comply with the , which include the following requirements:
- Ensure all functionality is available using only a keyboard.
- Videos have audio descriptions as well as captions.
- Proper heading levels (H1, H2, etc.) for screen reader navigation.
Accessibility Resources
Improving course accessibility can be a challenge but one well worth the outcome, says Dr. Crocco.
To support faculty in their efforts, the Office of Distance Learning has identified and adopted Panorama, which integrates with the ѻƵ’s Moodle LMS.
“It’s going to be an excellent resource for both faculty and students,” Dr. Crocco says. “Panorama will identify accessibility issues for faculty and provide step-by-step guidance for remediation. For students, it can generate alternative content formats on demand.”
Throughout Fall 2025, both the Office of Distance Learning and the ѻƵ System have held live webinars that have been recorded and are available for review and reference.
The Instructional Support Team also relaunched ODL 120: Designing Accessible Online Courses for all UL Lafayette faculty members. The self-paced Moodle course provides an overview of accessibility requirements as well as practical solutions for making course materials accessible.
Finally, faculty can always reach out to the Instructional Support Team with questions or guidance regarding course design and accessibility.
For Dr. Gardner, that’s been the most valuable resource as she improves her course content.
“The Office of Distance Learning staff have been phenomenal about helping me and have been patient about walking me through step by step,” she says. “They have been a phenomenal resource. I feel like I've learned so much from them, because there's so many things that you can do. It has been a godsend.”
