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Professional Development for Accessible and Inclusive Teaching

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Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) offers a wide variety of online and live training resources, workshops, and support to the TMU teaching community to help foster an inclusive and accessible learning environment for students with disabilities.

Take a look at what we offer below, and request support by emailing aaseddev@torontomu.ca (opens in new window) .

What We Offer

Online Accommodation Training for Instructors (D2L)

Policy 159: A Shared Responsibility, Faculty and Contract Lecturer Training 

You can take this training right now!

Access via my.torontomu.ca > Your Courses in D2L Brightspace > Policy 159: A Shared Responsibility

Created by AAS with support from the Centre for Teaching and Learning, this four-module, interactive training provides participants with the opportunity to learn about Senate Policy 159 Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities, and its associated procedures, about the known barriers to access within higher education that disproportionately impact students with disabilities, and gain practical tools for fostering an inclusive educational environment.

D2L Brightspace  (opens in new window) 

Accessible Course Outline Review 

Learning and Inclusion Education Developers are available for one-on-one review of any syllabus. We will apply a disability lens to offer insight into what barriers may be present, and offer suggestions to increase the accessibility of a course.

Support for Alternative Assessment Design

Our team can support you in designing alternative assessments. "Alternative assessments" in the context of academic accommodations refer to modified or different assignments and tests given to a student with disabilities, to ensure they have an equitable opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. These accommodations are tailored to meet the specific needs of the student while maintaining the academic standards of the course.

Departmental Retreats, Meetings, New Faculty Orientations, or Workshops: 

Book an AAS Learning and Inclusion Education Developer to provide advice, guidelines, support and best practices in creating accessible and inclusive content and learning spaces for diverse learners.

Our workshops support those who are just beginning their journey to design with accessibility in mind as well as those who are enhancing their practices.

  • Tailored Option - We work with you/your department to develop a session that is best suited to the needs of your group, retreat theme, or meeting topic.
  • Universal Design/Flexible Teaching - We offer a variety of sessions on UDL practices ranging from a high-level overview to more hands-on workshops.
  • Understanding Academic Ableism - Attitudinal barriers have been documented as the number one barrier to graduation for students with disabilities. Our workshops and sessions on this topic are designed to provide new perspectives on disability that often go unaddressed in professional development activities. 
  • AAS 101 - Learn how AAS operates, how all stakeholders share responsibility.
  • Policy 159 Online Training Overview - We can provide an overview of "Policy 159: A Shared Responsibility" online training to your department or group.
  • Case Study Workshop - In collaboration with you/your department can develop a case study that can be presented to the larger group. 

Support for communicating with students with disabilities

The effectiveness of communication between students and faculty directly affects each students’ success. All forms of communication in class may present minor or major barriers to students with a range of disabilities. AAS Education Developers are available to provide general strategies that may minimize the effect of a communication-related exclusion.