STEAM

What is STEAM?

STEAM represents important academic areas for promoting creativity, innovation, and advancement that are also challenging to make accessible in course materials, etc.:

Science
Technology
Engineering
Art
Mathematics (or Applied Mathematics)

Goals

Challenges

Images of diagrams are incredibly complex, so the following questions need to be asked and may be answered differently depending on the course or lesson objectives:

What parts of the image need to be described
- for a student to answer a question?
- for a faculty member to grade an answer?
What are the known’s that do not need to be described in detail? Potential examples:
- Diagram types: just name the diagram type (e.g. Venn diagram), but do not describe its shape
- Diagram behaviors: name the behavior and the variables or numbers associated with them, but do not describe their shape (e.g. function approaches x=-3 as y approaches positive infinity)

Equations can include complex formulas, including parenthetical grouping that needs to be made explicit in explanation for both the faculty member and student to be sure they are on the same page.

Some individuals may not be able to draw symbols that can be translated by software, due to motor disabilities, so alternatives to “drawing” may be required, depending on the accommodation request.

Tools and Guidelines Resources

The following resources are informational guides beyond the basics noted in the EIR Accessibility Guidelines. As we progress in our understanding of how to resolve accessibility concerns in these areas, this page will be updated to reflect those best practices.

STEAM Accessibility

What is STEAM?

Goals

Challenges

Recommended solutions

Tools and Guidelines Resources

References

EIR Accessibility Coordinator

Karole Schroeder

STEAM Accessibility

What is STEAM?

Goals

Goal 1: Provide alternative accommodations

Goal 2: Provide accommodations promptly upon request

Goal 3: Provide instructions requesting accommodations early

Challenges

Complex diagrams and images

Mathematical equations

Recommended solutions

Recommendation: Balance alternative text on images with long descriptions outside of images

Recommendation: Provide human readers for people with visual disabilities

Recommendation: Provide tactile solutions for people with visual disabilities

Recommendation: Write equations in MathML

Tools and Guidelines Resources

References

Innovated Solutions and Inclusive Learning

Guidelines

Cross-reference: Accessible Images and Multimedia

EIR Accessibility Coordinator

Karole Schroeder