Module 1 Inclusive Language and Accessibility in the Syllabus

Time to read: about 7 minutes

There is much we can do on day one to signal our efforts to create to an inclusive and accessible learning environment for all learners. Our course syllabi are a fiber optic line of communication. An enormous amount of data is communicated to students on day one through this document. Therefore, it is important that we take care to ensure that the information communicated speaks to all learners.

Remember, our learners are human adults, and we can better serve this diverse audience by adopting warmer, flexible tones in our syllabi and by providing some easy-to-implement accessibility features.

Inclusive Language

Issues are going to crop up during the course whether they be scheduling conflicts, group dynamics, or diverse perspectives. We can greatly mitigate the conflicts these issues may cause by borrowing from Universal Design for Learning principals and actively designing our course to account for these points of possible friction. We can start with tweaks to our syllabus language. Utilizing warm and inclusive language in the course syllabus can greatly impact how students perceive the course and instructor (Harnish and Bridges, 2011).

The following are examples of syllabus items that can be improved by using inclusive language.

Inviting other perspectives

The issue of differing perspectives commonly crops up during student interactions for discussions and group work. Try crafting positive syllabus statements describing the interactions you desire rather than listing the things students ought not to do. And remember, model the behavior you want to see in your students!

Inviting other perspectives inclusive syllabus language

Our class is made up of rich experiences and unique perspectives that add personalized depth and meaning to our conversations. Our conversations can greatly enhance our course materials and help everyone connect to the content and each other. We must be sure to maintain an environment where everyone feels safe to express their views. We must keep our conversations academic. Support your viewpoints with citations from scholarly resources. Disagree respectfully and constructively. Seek understanding rather than agreement. Being challenged in our points of view and knowledge is a natural result of learning. Respect everyone. Hostility and disrespectful behavior only harm and will not be tolerated.

Flexible policies

Sometimes we must be firm in our course policies. Explaining our reasoning behind our policies and highlighting action steps for students should problems occur can soften the delivery of these policies.

Many courses have an expectation for academic English writing. Having high standards for English writing is important when writing is often the main method of communication. Such policies can be problematic when we consider our learners and the many reasons why their English writing abilities are not to the expected standard, including but not limited to English language learners. Acknowledging the possible variance in English writing competencies of your learners and providing possible solutions and paths for students to develop those skills is a good way to more inclusively craft such policies. Furthermore, assessing student work for clarity of message and strength of argument rather than English competency can also help alleviate the stress and anxiety of rigorous academic writing.

Clarifying your expectations and explaining how students can achieve those expectations can greatly help those first-day jitters.

An example passage for an inclusive late work policy can be found here Late Work Policies

Grading English writing inclusive syllabus language

You will need to complete your assignments in English and support your ideas using scholarly sources. Writing is a skill we develop throughout our lives. Though assignments are to be completed in English, I have had students from all around the world and from all walks of life succeed in this course. I will grade your assignments based on the strength of your ideas and how well you support them. I will not be grading on your English writing. However, our ideas are more accurately understood through good communication. If you are worried about your English writing ability, please reach out to me. Additionally, here are the UNL writing resources available to students.

Avoiding jargon

If we look back at the example of a financial agreement from the Humanizing the Syllabus section, we can easily pull together a list of terms that most non-experts and English language learners would have difficulty understanding. Terms such as amortization, liquidity, depreciation, or horrifying acronyms like ROI (return on investment) probably send most of us to our dictionary as we hope to make sense of the information before us.

Check out plainlanguage.gov for more information on avoiding jargon and writing clearly.

Simply understanding the course description and the instructor’s discipline-related remarks on day one can go a long way in helping your students’ sense of self-efficacy or the feeling of I can do this. Likely, there are discipline specific terms your students will need to learn. Extracting those terms and making a list or glossary will serve your learners well.

Due to the expert blind spot and your time in academia, it may be difficult for you to identify language used in your course description that may require some tailoring to better suit your learners. The easiest way to overcome this is to have a non-expert read through your syllabus. The course syllabus is a communicative document, it’s not a learning tool. You’ll have the rest of the course to teach your learners the finer points of your discipline.

Information is easier to understand when it is written for us. Modifying our language to better suit our learners can help reduce barriers on day one. Not only will communicating the course particulars and policies be more effective, but we can begin to create a sense of belonging in our learners and help them wrestle with their feelings of self-efficacy in positive ways. Communicating flexibility, acknowledging diverse perspectives and experiences, and filtering out complex vocabulary in our course syllabus can help our learners feel that they can be successful in their learning environment.

For more inclusive teaching tips, visit the Center for Transformative Teaching's Inclusive Teaching Resource.

Accessibility

It is easy to add accessibility features to your course syllabus.

Utilize headings in your word processor or within Canvas. This will greatly help leaners using assistive technologies navigate your syllabus.
1. In Microsoft Word, headings can be found in the Styles section accessed from the Home menu.
2. In Canvas Pages or Syllabus, headings are found in the dropdown menu between the font options. Look for Paragraph to access the heading styles.
3. When copying from Microsoft Word into a Canvas Page, be sure to review your page. Canvas may carry over the styling for your headings but not the actual heading structure.
4. Syllabus templates from Design Plus (if you have access) have built-in heading structures.
Create ordered lists (numbered) and unordered lists (bulleted) using Microsoft Word’s and Canvas’ built in numbering and bulleting functions. This ensures that assistive technologies will properly represent your lists.
Where possible, avoid using images in your syllabus, especially images of text.
1. All images should have text descriptions or alt text in the HTML.
If you provide a document copy of your syllabus, provide the document as a Word or Google Docs document rather than a PDF.

Accessibility and UDL (Universal Design for Learning) will be covered in greater depth in Module 2. Here are some optional materials to further expand your knowledge.

Furthermore, we encourage you to share your knowledge of digital accessibility features with your students. These features help create an inclusive campus where everyone can succeed.

Reflective Pause

Pause for a moment and consider the language and writing level used in your syllabus. Write down your ideas.

Are the language and writing level appropriate for all learners?
- Knowing who our learners are can be challenging, especially online. Remember, learner demographics are shifting and your learners may not be who you think.
Are there policies or passages that could be revised to be more inclusive?
- Work within your comfort level. It's okay to iteratively change your policies until you arrive on something that works for you and your learners.
How accessible is your syllabus? For example, did you use the headings, bullet-list, and numbered-list tools in Canvas or Microsoft Word?

References

Harnish, R.J. and Bridges, K.R. (2011). Effect of syllabus tone: Students’ perceptions of instructor and course. Social psychology of education, 14, 319-330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-011-9152-4