I found the session on the Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia from Victoria Woelders very informative. I had not heard about ARC-BC before this session or any of the resources that they have. I am not a school district employee yet, but I wish I had known some of the things, such as preferred fonts, that Victoria told us beforehand because I could have been more inclusive earlier. I had also never heard of the ABC Act but, after learning about it, I am glad to see that it is now law in BC. I liked the part about having an accessibility committee where at least half of the members actually have to have a disability. I think a lot of the time committees are made but the people who are affected by committee decisions are not represented on the committee. Most people have good intentions but the people who have the disability know best on what they need to be included.
I knew that there was digital access to different resources including things like textbooks and novels but I did not realize the process ARC-BC goes through to make them all accessible. I was always told not to markup books in any way so the fact that they literally cut up books is kind of funny. It should be done though, if it makes them more accessible. I hold the privilege of not having a disability so I honestly do not think about these little things to make learning more accessible as much as I should. Now that I know about them, I will definitely be including them in my practice. I think some of my biggest takeaways were the 4 best fonts to use, putting alternate text on pictures, and putting the entire title of a website or book onto the hyperlink instead of just “click here” or the URL. I find it interesting that academically, I have been told to use Times New Roman font, but it is not actually one of the most accessible fonts.
I am glad that there is a straightforward resource to use for potential students who may need a digital copy of a resource. All of the information is in one place and it seems easy to register a student once you have signed up as a teacher. If a digital resource will benefit a student and help them do better in their learning then as teachers we should be connecting them to those resources. I like that ARC-BC is offering sessions like these because I would have benefitted from having this information sooner.
