Why do we have to make our online materials accessible in advance? Why not wait until a student who is deaf, blind, or has a learning disability enrolls?
The State Chancellor’s office has mandated that accessibility features be “built-in” not provided on an ad-hoc, as-needed basis. Keep in mind also that it takes time to write alt tags, caption a video, and so on, so courses should ideally be accessible by the first day of class. If accessibility features are added during course development, it will take less time than going back later and “retrofitting” your course.
