Understanding Accessible Pedagogy Beyond UDL 

Dr. Ann Gangé

Dr. Ann Gagné (she/her) is Senior Educational Developer, Accessibility & Inclusion at Brock University. She has worked in higher education for over 21 years. Her work focuses on the need for accessible pedagogies through holistic awareness of disabled learners, faculty, and staff lived experiences to decrease barriers to inclusion in higher education. She has facilitated workshops and keynotes on accessible pedagogy, accessible event design, accessible social media, and trauma-aware UDL.  In March 2023 she started her own podcast Accessagogy, which talks about accessibility and pedagogy in short (under 15 minute) episodes.  

The framing of accessible pedagogy within the context of higher education is often reduced to conversations around Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as both the start and the limit of what needs to be taken into account in accessible course design. This session will start with UDL and then go on to frame other considerations that are part of accessible pedagogical design which are important to consider in different course delivery modalities (synchronous, asynchronous, online, on-campus). We will address word choice as well as accessible engagement strategies that go beyond limiting views seen in some disciplinary signature pedagogies. Through case scenarios and question prompts the session will approach accessible pedagogy in a holistic way that holds space for the lived reality of multi-marginalized learners and teaching teams in higher education. Participants will leave with practical support strategies and the opportunity to create meaningful goals for accessible pedagogical practice in their own contexts.