Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)

Apple reveals new accessibility features, like custom text-to-speech voices [Silberling]

On 05/22/2023, in accessibility / UDL, Apple, assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), participation, platforms, tools, by Daniel Christian

Apple reveals new accessibility features, like custom text-to-speech voices — from techcrunch.com by Amanda Silberling

Excerpt:

Apple previewed a suite of new features today to improve cognitive, vision and speech accessibility. These tools are slated to arrive on the iPhone, iPad and Mac later this year. An established leader in mainstream tech accessibility, Apple emphasizes that these tools are built with feedback from disabled communities.

Assistive Access, coming soon to iOS and iPadOS, is designed for people with cognitive disabilities. Assistive Access streamlines the interface of the iPhone and iPad, specifically focusing on making it easier to talk to loved ones, share photos and listen to music. The Phone and FaceTime apps are merged into one, for example.

Special Education Myth Busting [Phillips-Krivickas]

On 05/16/2023, in assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), parents/guardians, reinvent, society, special needs, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, youth, by Daniel Christian

Special Education Myth Busting — from gettingsmart.com by Karla Phillips-Krivickas

Excerpts:

FACT: 14% of all U.S. students have a disability.
FACT: At least 85% of students with disabilities can learn and achieve on grade level.
FACT: Students don’t outgrow their disabilities.
FACT: The majority of students with disabilities spend most of their day in regular classrooms.
FACT – Students with disabilities consistently experience the lowest academic outcomes.

Addendum on 5/22/23:

Getting Smart Town Hall re: Special Education Links (SHARED) – Google Drive

On a somewhat-related note, see:

What Does Assistive Tech Look Like with One-to-One Programs? — from edtechmagazine.com by Rebecca Torchia
In a recent episode of Focus on EDU, one special education teacher shared tips for working with parents and integrating tech’s assistive benefits into the classroom.

Excerpt:

As K–12 schools adopt one-to-one device programs, they have the opportunity to introduce more assistive technologies into classrooms. These accommodations can help bring equity into schools, and in ways that don’t make students feel singled out.

“When I started teaching, students who needed anything outside of that traditional pen-and-paper environment had to leave the environment in general education to be able to access those things,” Laura Hess, executive director of special education at St. Vrain Valley Schools in Colorado, said on an episode of Focus on EDU. “Now, a lot of districts across the U.S. are one-to-one districts, so all of our students have access to technology. Students don’t need to leave the classroom to access that support.”

Amazing video featuring 128 dancers, all seated in wheelchairs [thanks to Diana Adams for this resource]

On 05/10/2023, in Asia, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), creativity, drama/theater, Europe, by Daniel Christian

Here are 128 dancers, all seated in wheelchairs.
A M A Z I N G !!! ???

This performance was directed by the incredible Sadeck Waff as part of the farewell ceremony for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.@Paris2024 @pascal_bornet #innovation #diversity #inclusion #tuesdaymotivation pic.twitter.com/MGthFy9Rx4

— Diana Adams (@adamsconsulting) May 9, 2023

2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report | Teaching and Learning Edition

On 05/09/2023, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), blended learning, change, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, face-to-face, faculty, game-changing environment, higher education, hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, ideas, instructional design, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, online learning, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, teaching & learning, tools, trends, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report | Teaching and Learning Edition — from library.educause.edu

Excerpt:

The Future of Teaching and Learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm, with new AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT opening up new opportunities in higher education for content creation, communication, and learning, while also raising new concerns about the misuses and overreach of technology. Our shared humanity has also become a key focal point within higher education, as faculty and leaders continue to wrestle with understanding and meeting the diverse needs of students and to find ways of cultivating institutional communities that support student well-being and belonging.

For this year’s teaching and learning Horizon Report, then, our panelists’ discussions oscillated between these seemingly polar ideas: the supplanting of human activity with powerful new technological capabilities, and the need for more humanity at the center of everything we do. This report summarizes the results of those discussions and serves as one vantage point on where our future may be headed.

Accessibility Do’s and Don’ts for Website Navigation [boia.org]

On 05/03/2023, in accessibility / UDL, assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, IT in HE, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, vendors, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Accessibility Do’s and Don’ts for Website Navigation — from boia.org

Excerpt:

If people can’t navigate your website, they can’t use it — and you miss an opportunity to connect with your audience.

Navigation controls can present a significant barrier to people with disabilities, making it difficult for them to find and interact with the content they need.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) includes a list of success criteria to ensure that navigation controls are operable (they don’t require interactions that a user can’t perform). These criteria are put in place to assist users with a wide variety of abilities, including individuals who use assistive technologies (AT).

If you’re new to web accessibility, WCAG’s requirements may seem overwhelming. Fortunately, they’re based on simple principles — and by understanding a few basic concepts, you can avoid common mistakes.

Also relevant/see:

Assistive Technology: What’s an “Alternative Input Device?” — from boia.org

Examples:

Eye-Tracking Systems
Sip-and-Puff Systems
Head Mouse
Modified Keyboards
Joysticks

Which trends are on your radar? Fantastic resource for #HigherEducation about the changing ecology: Higher Learning Commission’s Annual Trends Report. https://t.co/Lzgph6u3lP

— Melanie Booth, Ed.D. (@boothmelanie) March 25, 2023

March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day

On 03/18/2023, in accessibility / UDL, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), global / globalization, society, sociology, special needs, by Daniel Christian

Join us to promote full inclusion on World Down Syndrome Day
21 March is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) as declared by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2011.

On this day, people with Down syndrome and those who live and work with them throughout the world organise and participate in activities and events to raise public awareness and create a single global voice advocating for the rights, inclusion and well-being of people with Down syndrome.

WDSD has an official website, created and updated by DSi, where we share global events and activities.

United Nations | March 21 2023 is World Down Syndrome Day — from un.org

Excerpt:

Down syndrome occurs when an individual has an extra partial (or whole) copy of chromosome 21. It is not yet know why this syndrome occurs, but Down syndrome has always been a part of the human condition. It exists in all regions across the globe and commonly results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics and health.

Adequate access to health care, to early intervention programmes, and to inclusive education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the individual.

Also relevant/see:

What is Mosaic Down Syndrome?

Working To Incorporate Legal Technology Into Your Practice Isn’t Just A Great Business Move – It’s Required [Williams]

On 03/11/2023, in 21st century, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), Canada, experimentation, law schools, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Working To Incorporate Legal Technology Into Your Practice Isn’t Just A Great Business Move – It’s Required — from abovethelaw.com by Chris Williams

Excerpt:

According to Model Rule 1.1 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: “A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.”

In 2012, the ABA House of Delegates voted to amend Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1 to include explicit guidance on lawyers’ use of technology.

If Model Rule 1.1 isn’t enough of a motivator to dip your feet in legal tech, maybe paying off that mortgage is. As an extra bit of motivation, it may benefit you to pin the ABA House of Delegate’s call to action on your motivation board.

Also relevant/see:

While courts still use fax machines, law firms are using AI to tailor arguments for judges — from cbc.ca by Robyn Schleihauf

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

What is different with AI is the scale by which this knowledge is aggregated. While a lawyer who has been before a judge three or four times may have formed some opinions about them, these opinions are based on anecdotal evidence. AI can read the judge’s entire history of decision-making and spit out an argument based on what it finds.

The common law has always used precedents, but what is being used here is different — it’s figuring out how a judge likes an argument to be framed, what language they like using, and feeding it back to them.

And because the legal system builds on itself — with judges using prior cases to determine how a decision should be made in the case before them — these AI-assisted arguments from lawyers could have the effect of further entrenching a judge’s biases in the case law, as the judge’s words are repeated verbatim in more and more decisions. This is particularly true if judges are unaware of their own biases.

Cutting through the noise: The impact of GPT/large language models (and what it means for legal tech vendors) — from legaltechnology.com by Caroline Hill

Excerpts:

Given that we have spent time over the past few years telling people not to get to overestimate the capability of AI, is this the real deal?

“Yeah, I think it’s the real thing because if you look at why legal technologies have not had the adoption rate historically, language has always been the problem,” Katz said. “Language has been hard for machines historically to work with, and language is core to law. Every road leads to a document, essentially.”
…
Katz says: “There are two types of things here. They would call general models GPT one through four, and then there’s domain models, so a legal specific large language model.
…
“What we’re going to see are large-ish, albeit not the largest model that’s heavily domain tailored is going to beat a general model in the same way that a really smart person can’t beat a super specialist. That’s where the value creation and the next generation of legal technology is going to live.”

Fresh Voices in Legal Tech with Kristen Sonday — from legaltalknetwork.com by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell with Kristen Sonday

Employment of people with disabilities surges to a record high amid remote work policies [thenationalnews.com]

On 03/02/2023, in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business, career development, corporate / business world, society, sociology, special needs, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Employment of people with disabilities surges to a record high amid remote work policies — from thenationalnews.com; with thanks to Robert Gibson on LinkedIn for this resource
Employment among disabled people in the US rose to 21.3% in 2022

Excerpt:

Daily tasks such as commuting and navigating an office space can be difficult for people depending on their disabilities. As companies adopted remote and hybrid work arrangements, more disabled people applied for and landed jobs — sometimes for the first time in years.

The recent push by companies urging workers to return to the office may threaten the gains made by disabled people, who comprise about 12 per cent of the population, according to the bureau. A report by the consulting firm McKinsey and Company published last June estimated that 35 per cent of companies offered a fully remote option.

Overall, disabled people are still less likely to be employed than their counterparts who don’t have disabilities, and they are twice as likely to be employed part-time, the BLS report said. They’re also more likely to be self-employed.

Google is making it easier to find out if places in the community are accessible to people with disabilities, all with the touch of a button. [Heasley]

On 02/23/2023, in accessibility / UDL, assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), Google, special needs, by Daniel Christian

Google Enhances Accessibility Information — from disabilityscoop.com by Shaun Heasley

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Google is making it easier to find out if places in the community are accessible to people with disabilities, all with the touch of a button.

The company said recently that it is expanding a feature called “Accessible Places,” which allows Google Maps users to see if businesses are wheelchair accessible and free of stairs.

Google originally rolled out Accessible Places in 2020 in the U.S., Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, but now says the option is available globally and includes details on more than 40 million locations.

Along the lines of accessibility-related items, see:

Over 11 Million Jobs in the U.S. May Exclude Color-Blind Persons — from billfischer.substack.com by Bill Fischer
Employing design solutions that involve text, pattern, and other types of visual differentiation besides color as well as developing color-identifying smart-glasses technology can start to break down occupational barriers for color-blind persons.

Excerpt:

Below is a list of occupations that require testing for color-blindness, divided into two categories: those in which design choices create challenges and those in which the issues are rooted in the natural environment.

“Click Here” Isn’t Enough Context for Hyperlinks [boia.org] + other accessibility-related items

On 02/14/2023, in accessibility / UDL, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), web design and production, by Daniel Christian

“Click Here” Isn’t Enough Context for Hyperlinks — from boia.org

Excerpt:

If a link reads “click here,” “learn more,” or “read more,” you’re not telling users anything about the link’s purpose — you’re simply telling them that they can click on the link (and most users understand that hyperlinks can be activated).

That can be frustrating for many people. Unfortunately, it’s a common user experience (UX) issue, but it’s easy to correct.

4 Things People with Disabilities Look For On Your Website — from boia.org

Excerpts:

To that end, it’s useful to consider what individuals with disabilities experience when visiting a new website — the features that tell them whether or not your website is accessible.

1. An Accessibility Statement
2. Consistent Web Design
…

4 Simple Ways That Content Writers Can Promote Accessibility — from boia.org

Excerpts:

1. Look for inclusive stock photos
2. Avoid making assumptions about your readers
…

Competition Can Motivate, Encourage and Inspire Students. But It Can Also Harm Them. — from edsurge.com by Patrick Harris II

Excerpt:

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines competition as “any performance situation structured in such a way that success depends on performing better than others.” Naturally, this could create challenges in a school setting, but in my experience, whether innate or as a product of a structure, competition itself isn’t always problematic. In fact, some studies confirm that competition has benefits, though they vary based on the individual and the competition.
…
Competition can be thrilling and motivating to those who choose to engage. But it’s important to remember that competition is not a golden key to unlock student engagement. Depending on how we use it, competition can also cause harm, such as anxiety, low self-esteem or negative feelings of self-worth.

For every student who was celebrated, there was another student who, by design, was shamed.

Looking back, these competitions weren’t used to teach students sportsmanship or resilience. They were used as gimmicks and antics to “motivate” students. I now recognize that I played a part in reinforcing a system of inequity by awarding those students who were already privileged.

From DSC:
I appreciate Patrick’s balanced article here — mentioning both the potential advantages and disadvantages of using competitive activities in the classroom.

I’m also going to comment on the topic of competition but from a different perspective. One that involves my faith journey and relationships.

I used to play a lot of sports and I played one sport at the university level. I mention this to establish that I’ve had my share of competition. In my experience, competition was anti-relational. That could have been just my perspective, but perhaps others share this perspective as well.

That is, I viewed people as to be competed against…not to be in relationships with. When my identity was tied up with my sport, that was ok. But as my identity changed in my senior year, it was not ok. When I became a Christian (in faith), my identity shifted big time. And the LORD wanted me to be in relationships with other people. Competition didn’t help that part of my journey.

As an aside, competition was also encouraged in terms of grades and performance in school — including at the university level. Several professors put our results up on the walls outside their offices — clearly showing everyone where they stood in the class. And I saw competition in the corporate world all the time as well. So while it’s something we here in the United States practice big time, it does seem to have its plusses and minuses.

Two items re: accessibility / inclusive design / special education

On 02/11/2023, in accessibility / UDL, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), content development, aggregation, repositories, curriculum, education, special needs, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Imagine Learning Announces Major New Special Education Initiative — from businesswire.com; via GSV

Excerpt:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Imagine Learning, the largest provider of digital curriculum solutions in the United States serving 15 million students in more than half the districts nationwide, today announced a major new initiative to address the urgent learning needs of more than seven million students with disabilities across the U.S.
…
Imagine Learning is also launching Imagine AscendTM, a new comprehensive solution for special education students that combines digital courseware with highly qualified virtual instructors. Imagine Ascend provides districts with a sustainable solution for staffing shortages and a scalable approach to increasing graduation rates, both critical needs of special education programs. The Imagine Ascend portfolio of curricula and services will support learners with accommodating instruction and help educators serve students with disabilities.

Educator considerations for ChatGPT — from platform.openai.com; with thanks to Anna Mills for this resource

Excerpt:

Streamlined and personalized teaching
Some examples of how we’ve seen educators exploring how to teach and learn with tools like ChatGPT:

Drafting and brainstorming for lesson plans and other activities
Help with design of quiz questions or other exercises
Experimenting with custom tutoring tools
Customizing materials for different preferences (simplifying language, adjusting to different reading levels, creating tailored activities for different interests)
Providing grammatical or structural feedback on portions of writing
Use in upskilling activities in areas like writing and coding (debugging code, revising writing, asking for explanations)
Critique AI generated text

While several of the above draw on ChatGPT’s potential to be explored as a tool for personalization, there are risks associated with such personalization as well, including student privacy, biased treatment, and development of unhealthy habits. Before students use tools that offer these services without direct supervision, they and their educators should understand the limitations of the tools outlined below.

Also relevant/see:

- Designing Assignments in the ChatGPT Era — from insidehighered.com by Susan D’Agostino
  Some instructors seek to craft assignments that guide students in surpassing what AI can do. Others see that as a fool’s errand—one that lends too much agency to the software.
- 5 Ways Instructional Designers Can Use ChatGPT — from drlukehobson.com by Luke Hobson
- AI, ChatGPT, instructional design, and prompt crafting — from veletsianos.com by George Veletsianos, PhD

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
David Wiley wrote a thoughtful post on the ways in which AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) can “provide instructional designers with first drafts of some of the work they do.” He says “imagine you’re an instructional designer who’s been paired with a faculty member to create a course in microeconomics. These tools might help you quickly create first drafts of” learning outcomes, discussion prompts, rubrics, and formative assessment items. The point is that LLMs can quickly generate rough drafts that are mostly accurate drafts, that humans can then “review, augment, and polish,” potentially shifting the work of instructional designers from authors to editors. The post is well worth your time.
…
The question that I’d like to spend some time thinking about is the following: What new knowledge, capacities, and skills do instructional designers need in their role as editors and users of LLMs?

This resonated with me. Instructional Designer positions are starting to require AI and ML chops. I’m introducing my grad students to AI and ChatGPT this semester. I have an assignment based on it.

(This ain’t your father’s instructional design…)

Robert Gibson

We’re piloting ChatGPT Plus, a $20/mo subscription for faster response times and reliability during peak hours: https://t.co/ZDK37w9MIs

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) February 1, 2023

6 Free Tools for Evaluating Web Accessibility — from boia.org

Excerpt:

Can you evaluate your website’s accessibility on your own?

Not necessarily. To ensure conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), you’ll need to test your content regularly by using both manual and automated tools. Ideally, manual tests should be performed by human testers who have disabilities.

However, as you learn about the concepts of WCAG, you can use free tools to test your website for common barriers. If you’re a web designer or developer, online tools can be a vital resource as you incorporate the best practices of inclusive design.

Below, we’ll discuss six free tools that can help you make better design decisions.

Learning Ecosystems

Apple reveals new accessibility features, like custom text-to-speech voices [Silberling]

Amazing video featuring 128 dancers, all seated in wheelchairs [thanks to Diana Adams for this resource]

Accessibility Do’s and Don’ts for Website Navigation [boia.org]

Higher Learning Commission’s 2023 Trends

March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day

Working To Incorporate Legal Technology Into Your Practice Isn’t Just A Great Business Move – It’s Required [Williams]

Employment of people with disabilities surges to a record high amid remote work policies [thenationalnews.com]

Google is making it easier to find out if places in the community are accessible to people with disabilities, all with the touch of a button. [Heasley]

“Click Here” Isn’t Enough Context for Hyperlinks [boia.org] + other accessibility-related items

Two items re: accessibility / inclusive design / special education

6 Free Tools for Evaluating Web Accessibility [boia.org]

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