Accommodating is not enough.......
With online learning is gaining traction in higher education, there are continuous concerns of its accessibility, particularly for participants with disabilities. It is the individual’s choice to disclose a disability. In the online learning environment, it is difficult for the instructor to identify if any students have disabilities. Most institutions have a disabilities or accessibility services department, but the student must take the initiative to activate services, which then are approved and professors are notified of needs pertaining to individual students. Reaching out to professors on the student’s behalf does not help lessen potential barriers within online course unless the student takes the initiative to introduce and identify themselves as a students within the class needing accommodations. Even then there is no guarantee that he or she will be successful in the course. The success of students with disabilities in an online environment centers on whether or not the stu...