Northeast Iowa Community College

The Challenge

Increasing Demand for Accessibility but Limited Resources

In higher education, there is a huge disconnect between the number of students with accommodation needs and the resources dedicated to the offices that serve them. According to the Government Accountability Office, the percentage of college students with disabilities nearly doubled over the last two decades, with as many as 21% of students reporting a disability in 2020.  

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) understands the challenges that come with accessibility all too well. 

“We’ve always had a strong commitment to creating an inclusive and accessible learning environment for our students. We saw our accessibility office undergo significant challenges in managing student accommodations due to a growing number of learners with disabilities and the lack of resources available, and we wanted to help” said Shannon Brenner, Instructional Designer and adjunct faculty at NICC. 

The college’s accessibility services offices were under-resourced, which meant staff often had no other choice but to rely on outdated processes and technology. This led to delays in providing accessible textbooks, inconsistent communication, and inefficient accommodation tracking. Frequent staff turnover exacerbated these issues, making it difficult to maintain consistent documentation and support for students. 

NICC’s Department of Instructional Innovation and Design (DIID) is a leading force for innovation at the college. The DIID instructional design team saw an opportunity to address the challenges that the accessibility services office was having by utilizing the school’s existing learning management system (LMS), Brightspace. The DIID team viewed Brightspace as a tool that could improve the experiences of accommodated students and maximize the efficiency of the staff. 

The Solution

Implementing an Innovative Accessibility Hub

Instructional designers from the DIID team collaborated closely with their accessibility team to develop and launch the Accessibility Hub in Brightspace in Spring 2023. This initiative aimed to address the various challenges faced by the Accessibility Services offices, including outdated processes, limited resources and frequent staff turnover.

The DIID team played a crucial role in customizing the layout and navigation of the Hub to ensure it met the specific needs of both students and staff. They integrated tools like YuJa Panorama and the Brightspace Accessibility checker to identify and suggest improvements for accessibility issues, ensuring the resource was user-friendly and compliant with accessibility standards.

The DIID team also focused on making the Hub easy to use for learners and staff. Each semester, the Hub is moved to the current term, making it easy for students to locate it in the My Courses widget. To maintain confidentiality, all students with accommodations are enrolled as learners with a hidden class list, which is accessible only to accessibility staff, the instructional design team and LMS administrators. The DIID team provides ongoing support through a helpdesk ticketing system, including after-hours and weekend assistance, ensuring that students and faculty can effectively use the Hub and access necessary accommodations.

Additionally, the DIID team created a custom navigation bar for the course offering, leveraging release conditions to tailor the experience for staff and students. For staff, the menu includes links to accommodation letters, an accommodation tracker, automatic emails, the class list, textbook receipts and helpdesk support. For learners, the navigation is simplified to include content, accommodation letters and helpdesk links. This thoughtful design ensures that both staff and students can efficiently navigate the Hub and access the resources they need.

The team focused on addressing challenges in four areas: 

Accessible Textbook Files

The Hub contains accessible textbook files organized by course number and makes use of the Groups tool to grant individual access. Students can interact with their texts using tools like ReadSpeaker and Panorama, and an assignment dropbox triggers alerts for staff when students are ready to receive their files. “The ability to use Brightspace for audio books has been great. It has allowed us to save accessible versions and grant access to specific students. It has also given us a space for peer notetakers to share notes in a confidential way,” commented Jennifer Wood, director of accessibility services at NICC.

Accommodation Tracking and Documentation

NICC reimagined the Brightspace grade book to track student accommodations and share information across campuses. The system allows staff to mark accommodations, add notes and use grade items as release conditions for tailored messaging. Accommodation letters are shared through an assignment dropbox, ensuring consistency and access.

Facilitation of Accommodations

The Hub facilitates accommodations like note taking through discussion topics with anonymous posting. It also supports in-person testing accommodations using third-party integrations Honorlock and Panorama, allowing for exam proctoring and audio file creation.

Communication

The Hub automates communication with students using intelligent agents to send personalized alerts for various tasks. Announcements and a notes section in the grade book ensure efficient and consistent communication between staff and students.

The Result

Success of NICC’s Accessibility Hub

The implementation of the Accessibility Hub has yielded significant positive outcomes. Since its launch, the Hub has become an essential resource for both students and staff, simplifying processes and ensuring timely access to necessary accommodations.

Housing accessible textbooks improved the learner experience by providing access to nearly 100 courses’ textbook files each semester. Students could use listening tools and alternative formats to engage with their texts, while staff saved time by managing files centrally and efficiently.

Documentation and accessibility of information for both learners and staff also saw significant improvements. Testing center staff could now access up-to-date accommodation information, and students could retrieve their accommodation letters anytime. This seamless access to necessary documents ensured that both students and staff were always informed and prepared.

“Having a central hub to look up students’ letters whenever I get a testing appointment request or have questions about an individual student’s accommodations is SO efficient and helpful,” shared Beck Bradley, NICC assessment technician.

The Accessibility Hub also meant that the delivery of note taking and testing accommodations became more streamlined, allowing students to access class recordings or anonymous notes without delay. Testing accommodations were efficiently managed, reducing the logistical burden on staff and ensuring academic integrity.

Finally, automated communication with Brightspace’s Intelligent Agents ensured consistent messaging across campuses, with over 12,000 personalized messages sent to students. The consistent and personalized communication helped students stay informed and engaged, making their learning experience more cohesive and supportive.

These improvements have not only enhanced the student experience but also significantly reduced the workload for staff, allowing them to focus more on direct student support. The institutional knowledge and documentation provided by the Hub have also proven invaluable during staff transitions, ensuring continuity of services.

“The success of the Accessibility Hub is a great demonstration of how existing LMS tools can be creatively utilized to support students with accommodation needs, maintain institutional knowledge, and improve efficiencies,” says Travis Hunt, NICC’s LMS Administrator.

The success of this project has inspired other departments at NICC to explore similar resource hubs, further enhancing the college’s ability to support its students.

Looking Ahead to the Future

NICC has plans to use insights and data from Brightspace to further improve the Accessibility Hub. This includes adding more accessibility resources, leveraging the quiz tool for accommodation renewals, and expanding testing features. The college is also exploring ways to support faculty in delivering accommodations while maintaining confidentiality and compliance.

Other institutions can learn from NICC’s experience by creating centralized resource hubs within their LMS to streamline accommodation processes and maintain institutional knowledge. Such hubs can automate communication, reduce staff burden, and provide resources in a familiar and accessible environment, ultimately enhancing student support and institutional efficiency.