A unit of study of record-keeping in the classroom. The objective is to introduce participants to the use of a spreadsheet for record-keeping purposes.

This animation depicts global surface warming as simulated by NCAR's Community Climate System Model (CCSM) Version 3. It shows the temperature anomalies relative to the end of the 19th century, both over the entire globe and as a global average. The model shows the temporary cooling effects during 5 major volcanic eruptions and estimates future temperature trends based on different amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

Explanation of what "accessible" means, and how it differs from terms such as assistive technology and accommodations.

This web page from the National Snow and Ice Data Center contains two related visualizations and supporting information about them. The first visualization gives an estimate of the percent contribution to sea level change since the 1990s from three contributors - small glaciers and ice caps, the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The second visualization shows the cumulative contribution to sea level from small glaciers and ice caps plotted with the annual global surface air temperature anomaly.

Coordinating Early Childhood Systems

Adults and a young child collaborating in an early learning classroom
While early childhood providers and families prioritize activities that optimize interactivity with peers and the natural environment, print and digital materials and technologies are commonly present in early learning settings, including the home and community. If and when they are determined to be appropriate, interactive materials and technologies need to be accessible if children with disabilities are to benefit from inclusive settings. Examples of accessible materials and technologies in early learning settings can include:

Tactile books that include a combination of print and braille
Video that includes captioning of sounds and audio description of visual elements
Mobile apps that are compatible with a child’s assistive technology (AT)
Ensuring that children with disabilities in early childhood programs can participate in all range of activities in early childhood programs is effectively achieved through a coordinated approach requiring collaboration between a number of agencies, federal, state, and local service providers, and families and caregivers.

Coordinating Higher Education Systems

Adults in a higher education environment collaborating
Multiple indicators show a positive trend in the number of students with disabilities enrolling in higher education programs. Equitable access to learning for these students requires that all learning materials and activities be made accessible to them. This extends to textbooks, courseware, learning management systems, instructional software programs—in short, any and all curriculum resources required for use in academic programs.

The Critical Components for the Quality Indicators for Higher Education were first released in 2018 and include actionable language for developing a coordinated system that leads to the timely provision of accessible materials and technologies in higher education settings for all students who need them.

Coordinating K–12 Systems

Teachers collaborating in a K–12 environment
The Critical Components of the Quality Indicators for K-12 are designed to facilitate the coordination that is needed to ensure students with disabilities in K-12 settings have timely access to the accessible materials and technologies they need for equal participation in learning. They were the initial set of Critical Components of the Quality Indicators developed between 2007 and 2014 and have since been updated twice to reflect changes in the dynamic K-12 educational environment, such as the increasing use of digital materials and technologies. Implementation of the Quality Indicators and Critical Components for K-12 is supported through the AEM Pilot, a free online tool that allows state and district teams to set goals and track their progress toward creating more inclusive learning environments.

This page is meant to be an entry point into the creation of accessible content with familiar tools such as Microsoft Office and Google Docs.

Learn how to make your posts on a number of social media platforms more accessible by including alternative text for images, properly using hashtags to make your posts searchable and more.

Creating Accessible Websites

Illustration of website icons surrounding a computer monitor
Creating a website is not as difficult as it used to be. Today, most websites are created by entering information into a form, not by writing lines of code. A number of publishing systems are available for creating a website or a blog, and many of them have options for making the content accessible.

Overview of OER with a demonstraton of how to create accessible OER with Open Author and the introduction of a protocol for the curation of accessible OER.

This is a unit of study whose competency is selecting ICT resources to support curriculum outcomes. The objective for teachers is to make the best use of ICT in order to enhance teaching and learning.

When the news story broke that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and other politicians wore blackface and Klan regalia while in school, institutions across the nation suddenly were confronted with their all too recent blackface past. Princeton Professor Rhae Lynn Barnes, the foremost expert on amateur blackface minstrelsy, has spent over a decade cataloging 10,000 minstrel plays and uncovered their prolific use on Broadway, in schools, the military, churches, political organizations, and even the White House. This webinar will help educators master the basic history of blackface in America, strategies to discuss this difficult topic with students, and ways to think about the incredible social, political, and economic power blackface held as America’s most pervasive entertainment form in the American North and West between the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. By the end of this webinar, educators will be able to teach what a minstrel show was, how the genre developed, who participated in this form, how it was central to mass popular entertainment globally, they will be able to teach the construction of key stereotypes for minorities and women, and how it was pushed underground through a coordinated Civil Rights campaign after being openly celebrated for over a century.

This visualization tool shows sea ice data from 1978 to the present. Selected data can be animated to show changes in sea ice extent over time. Data is added by the National Snow and Ice Data Center as it becomes available.

This page provides information about opportunities in the United States for teachers and related service providers to learn about deaf-blindness and instructional practices for children and youth who are deaf-blind. Available opportunities come in a variety of forms—online courses, webinars, and self-study modules. These are organized topically below. Some have opportunities to obtain CEUs or credits. Please note that NCDB does not host modules or offer CEUs or credits, so be sure to contact the relevant sponsoring agencies for more information.

An explanation of what it means to say educational materials are "accessible" and why accessibility is important.

In this activity, students are introduced to tree rings by examining a cross section of a tree, also known as a 'tree cookie.' They discover how tree age can be determined by studying the rings and how ring thickness can be used to deduce times of optimal growing conditions. Next, they investigate simulated tree rings applying the scientific method to explore how climatic conditions varied over time.

Practical tips for implementing the four principles of accessibility that are the foundation for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

A unit of study where participants should develop an understanding of the role rubrics play as an assessment tool as well as when and how they should be used. The objective is for participants to recognise the difference between low and high quality rubrics but also feel adequately prepared to begin creating rubrics.