Good teaching must be accessible to all
At the University of Oslo (UiO), nearly all instructors develop their own resources, from short videos and PowerPoint presentations to pages in Canvas and exams in Inspera. It is a legal requirement that all such resources must be designed in a way so that all students can benefit from them. All residents in Norway, including students of course, have legal protection against discrimination, also digital discrimination. Therefore, the teaching resources must be universally designed. But are all self-developed teaching resources at UiO actually meeting this requirement?
You are invited!
The IT department and the Study Administration are now inviting instructors to a Testfest (test festival) where teaching resources will be tested at the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted. – We have previously tested IT tools like Mine studier and Nettskjema with the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted. We learned a lot from this and were able to improve the tools, says Tomm Eriksen from the IT department. – Now it's the instructors' turn. We need to raise awareness about how important this is and knowledge about how you can easily ensure that the teaching resources you create can be used by all students. It cannot be that those who, for example, must use a screen reader, cannot access the resources developed at UiO, Eriksen states.
Facts about the Testfest
- Location: Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted premises
- Meet those who will conduct the tests and learn about the equipment they use.
- Informal setting with pizza served.
- You will see for yourself how the testers use their assistive technology to access materials – and where it falls short.
- A Testfest last for two hours and are free of charge through this invitation.
Simpler than one might think, and absolutely necessary
At UiO, the services we use, such as Canvas, Inspera, and Panopto, are universally designed, but that does not mean the content we put into them is automatically compliant. – Instructors must ensure the universal accessibility of their content. The most common mistake is not providing alt text for images in documents (PowerPoint, PDF, and Word) and on websites, explains Joey Corbin from the Study Administration. – When alt text is missing, and there is also no textual explanation above or below the image, those using assistive technology miss out on important information. Ensuring universal design is not only a responsible practice but also a straightforward and uncomplicated part of creating good learning resources. It is easier than one might think and is absolutely necessary, Corbin continues.
Omid is on board. Join us too!
Eriksen and Corbin have already enlisted Omid Mirmotahari from the Department of Informatics and the rest of the team behind the award-winning teaching resource Universet, but they need more participants. The focus is on ensuring that everyone who wants to can be part of the education. Teaching resources must be accessible. There is room for 4-5 instructors at the test festival being invited to here, and each instructor can bring along three to four colleagues, e.g., group teachers or other interested parties. There are two alternative dates available, one at the end of January and one at the end of February 2026.
– Now the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted is launching the Testfest as a concept, and companies can order and purchase this unique testing service. This round is free for UiO and those who sign up here, so join in now. Contribute to uplifting UiO by improving your own teaching is the clear call from J?rgen Kjelg?rd from the IT department.
You will be contacted after you have submitted your registration.
