ACCESSIBLE MULTIMODAL COMPOSITION ASSIGNMENT

REMIX

My goal was to create an assignment centered on accessibility that was itself as accessible as possible. As such, simply adding language to the assignment about accessibility and requiring students to directly address disability in their genre selection would not be enough. Importantly, this revision addresses Hitt’s call for addressing accessibility practices in text creation while also “removing barriers for disabled student writers and making space for the multiple ways students access, engage, and compose texts.” The original assignment for the Multimodal Composition in Two Genres assignment was, in my eyes, wordy: just over 750 words. Adding the requirement and explanation of attention to accessibility grew the assignment prompt to over 860 words. While this version of the prompt is thorough, it is text-heavy and potentially daunting to students with difficulties processing textual information. 

I therefore decided that I should “remix” the assignment sheet to produce a version that is more accessible: less text, more white space, icons for navigability, bolded due dates for the assignment components, and clear assessment criteria. My hope was that this document would both serve as a “quick look” at the assignment for those trying to plan out their scaffolded work over the course of the assignment and as a more accessible and comfortable text for those who cannot effectively use the original prompt for whatever reason.

I created this version of the assignment in Microsoft Word utilizing styles to ensure that a screen reader could interpret the headings and body text. I chose simple icons to represent the major sections: an “i” icon for the basic information on the assignment; a checklist for the section on what students will turn in and when; and a checklist for the assessment section, “What I’m Looking For.” The icons are placed in-line with the text and have alt text associated with them so that a screen reader will describe the icon, read the sub-heading, and then read the body text below. I also included two hyperlinks on this version of the assignment: one to the original, “wordy” version for students’ reference, and another to the Statement of Goals and Choices (SOGC) assignment component. I also ran the ‘Check Accessibility’ diagnostic within Word on the document to check that the assignment sheet is accessible.