DUNMORE, Pa. — Gina Gray, assistant teaching professor of kinesiology at Penn State Scranton, was one of eight winners in Penn State’s Campus-wide Accessible Syllabus Competition. This initiative was launched to celebrate faculty efforts in enhancing course accessibility through the use of a new tool integrated into the Canvas learning platform called Anthology Ally.

The competition was aimed at encouraging faculty to improve their syllabi to achieve a “green” indicator score denoting good or perfect accessibility ratings. In total, faculty across the University submitted 78 accessible syllabi which helped contribute to an inclusive learning environment for students.

In fall 2023, the University introduced Anthology Ally, which provides students with alternative formats for course materials and assists faculty in identifying potential barriers in their content. This initiative reflects the University's commitment to fostering an accessible academic environment for all students.

The impact of accessibility

Gray emphasized the broader impact of accessibility in education.

“Accessibility is for everybody. Making class materials accessible can help every student. Not everyone has an obvious disability that needs to be accommodated, so making materials accessible helps address those less obvious needs. Even those that are fully able can benefit from accessible materials,” she said.

Gray, along with three other faculty members from Penn State Scranton — Megan Van Etten, associate professor of biology and biology and science program coordinator; Meg Hatch, associate professor of biology and Honors Program coordinator; and Stephanie Longo, assistant professor of corporate communication — contributed a total of 12 accessible syllabi for the fall 2024 semester, demonstrating a collective commitment by Penn State Scranton faculty to enhance accessibility within their courses.

The competition was not only about winning but also about fostering a culture of inclusivity across Penn State campuses.

The University also recognized Penn State Hazleton for having the highest participation percentage. The success of the competition highlights the growing interest among faculty in utilizing the Ally tool to improve accessibility.

The winners of the competition, including Gray, were selected through a random drawing and will receive their prizes shortly via interoffice mail. The University plans to host another Accessible Syllabus Competition in preparation for spring 2025, with details to be announced in November.

The importance of accessibility

Gray emphasized the importance of accessibility in education. “If [Scranton] faculty want to improve the accessibility of their course materials, I would suggest several things: meet one-on-one with Griff Lewis, our instructional designer; complete the accessibility badge series offered by Griff; participate in any of the accessibility workshops offered by the Commonwealth Campus Instructional Designers; or complete the Universal Design for Learning online course from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence,” Gray said. “While some things do take a bit more time (like making pdf’s accessible), many of them do not take any extra time (using headings). It’s not just putting text in bold or using bullet points for lists or using captioning in videos. It’s more than that -- it’s about the student as a whole and how they learn best and how we, as faculty, can help them be successful.”

To learn more about accessibility at Penn State, including resources, training and consultation, visit accessibility.psu.edu.