Accessibility Matters: Support for Department of Justice Ruling on Course Content Accessibility

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued updated Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidance for web, app, and content accessibility that affects all public entities, including Penn State. Course content and electronic documents that are shared online, with or without a password, are subject to this ruling. The DOJ's deadline for ensuring the accessibility of such digital content is April 24, 2026. Read more about the ruling at IT Accessibility's Department of Justice Rule High Level Summary website https://accessibility.psu.edu/guidelines/doj2024summary/ .

Starting now, Undergraduate Education and the Office of Faculty Affairs will begin assessing compliance with the new guidance, with an initial focus on ensuring the following types of content meet accessibility requirements.

• Website text, images, sounds, videos, controls, and animations
• Electronic documents, including PDFs, presentation files, and spreadsheets
• Apps designed to run on mobile devices

The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence offers the following ways to assist you in preparing your accessible course documents. Read more about them and register at https://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/events

• Accessible Syllabus Templates
• Accessibility and Belonging: Course Documents
• Accessibility & Belonging: Pedagogical Strategies
• Universal Design for Learning
• Accessibility Kaltura Playlist: https://tinyurl.com/SITEAccessibilityPlaylist

Additionally, instructors at any location are welcome to participate in Commonwealth Campus Teaching Support's Accessible Skills Challenge. In this 8-week program beginning September 15, participants receive a weekly email with instructions to complete one accessibility task a week. Visit https://commonwealthteaching.psu.edu/psu-resource/accessible-skills-challenge-weekly-email-with-task-to-make-your-course-accessible/ for more details and to sign up.

Upcoming September Events: From AI Literacy to Pedagogical Strategies

Welcome back, Penn State faculty and students!

Start your semester strong by participating in one or more professional development workshops and programs offered by Schreyer Institute consultants. We provide a wide range of opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and instructors from all disciplines.

Explore how you can build your expertise with the Schreyer Institute!

AI-Centered Events

Developing AI Literacy in Students

Tuesday, 9/9/2025, 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Register

Thursday, 9/18/2025, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Register

As generative AI tools like ChatGPT become increasingly available, students need not only technical familiarity but also a critical understanding of how these tools shape thinking, creativity, and scholarship. In this workshop we will discuss strategies to introduce AI concepts in your courses and design activities that help students reflect on appropriate and ethical uses.

AI Decision Points: Especially for Grad Students and Postdocs Who Teach

Wednesday, 9/17/2025, 10:10 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. Register

In this interactive workshop especially for graduate students and postdocs, we'll explore decisions that instructors confront in relation to AI: when (or whether) to encourage students to use AI in a course; when (or whether) to constrain students from using AI; and how to communicate clear guidance and rationales to students.

Rethinking Assessment in Age of AI

Wednesday, 9/24/2025, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Register

The rise of generative AI is challenging traditional models of assessment. In this workshop, we will explore practical strategies for building flexible, resilient assessments that withstand evolving AI capabilities and harness AI to support learning.

Students and Instructors as Individuals

Accessibility and Belonging: Course Documents

Tuesday, 9/9/2025, 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Register

Focusing on the intersections of accessibility and belonging, participants of this interactive webinar will discover the foundational role of accessibility in fostering a sense of belonging as well as the essentials about creating accessible course materials.

Practical Tips for Teaching in a U.S Classroom (Especially for International TAs)

Tuesday, 9/23/2025, 10:35 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. Register

International instructors and TAs might sometimes find it challenging to navigate the attitudes and values inherent in U.S. undergraduate education. In this interactive workshop, we'll explore practical strategies that international instructors/TAs can implement.

How Culturally Relevant Teaching Can Benefit Your Students

Tuesday, 9/23/2025, 1:20 p.m. - 2:35 p.m. Register

In this interactive workshop, participants will explore the role of culture in shaping classroom dynamics; the academic foundations of culturally relevant teaching; and how cultural (mis)alignment can impact the learning environment.

Identities We Inspire in Our Students

Wednesday, 9/24/2025, 10:10 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. Register

Do you view the people in your classroom as students ... or as learners? As those there for the grade ... or as those who will become future colleagues? In this workshop, we will discuss and investigate the ways we can nurture positive, productive identities in our students. We will explore topics such as identities, their effect on students’ experience in the classroom, and ways that we as teachers can play a role in identity development.

General Teaching & Learning

How to Plan a Class Session

Wednesday, 9/3/2025, 10:10 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. Register

In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore practical strategies for planning individual class sessions, with special attention to the alignment of learning objectives, assessments, and learning activities.

Making Sure Disruptions Don't Derail Students' Learning

Thursday, 9/4/2025, 10:35 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. Register

Tuesday, 9/9/2025, 10:35 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. Register

Disruptive situations can occur in any course. In this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss ways to create a climate where disruptive behavior is less likely to occur--and to get the learning back on track when it does.

An Introduction to Active Learning

Wednesday, 9/10/2025, 10:10 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. Register

This interactive workshop offers participants a first look at active learning and how active learning can be used in the classroom. Participants will build their understanding of what active learning is, how to effectively use active learning, and methods and techniques to leverage active learning in their own teaching/TAing.

How CIRTL Can Benefit Grad Students and Postdocs

Friday, 9/12/2025, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 pm. Register

Friday, 9/26/2025, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. Register

Penn State is part of the international CIRTL Network, which focuses on preparing the next generation of faculty to teach effectively. Join us for this brief overview of how CIRTL programming—both at Penn State and through the 45-university network—can help grad students and postdocs to 1) strengthen their teaching skills and 2) document their professional development through CIRTL certification.

Getting Started with Teaching and Learning Scholarship

Thursday, 9/25/2025, 10:35 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. Register

In this interactive workshop, you will learn more about what Teaching and Learning Scholarship (also called SoTL) is, how you can integrate it into your scholarly work, and reasons why you might want to. During the session, you will have the opportunity to explore new and existing research in your discipline while also getting a head start on potential projects of your own.

Inclusive and Ethical Pedagogy Series: Teaching Larger Classes

Thursday, 9/25/2025, 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Register

Join us for a discussion in which a panel of experienced educators will share their approaches to teaching larger courses. This session is ideal for instructors seeking to explore practical ideas, and participants are encouraged to share their own questions and experiences.

Visit our Events page for a more comprehensive list of upcoming events!

Join a Short Course or Program!

Universal Design for Learning Course

Wednesday, 9/17/2025 to Friday, 12/19/2025

This Universal Design for Learning (UDL) course is self-directed and asynchronous. The course provides an introduction to the rationale for UDL, supporting research, and applications of UDL. We welcome instructors and designers who embrace student variability, strive for equity, and seek to empower students. Participants will explore UDL terms, principles, structures, and applications, and ways to adapt teaching practices.

Endorsement: Inclusive and Equitable Teaching

Friday, 9/19/2025 to Monday, 12/22/2025

This endorsement is part of the Provost Endorsement Program.

This endorsement engages experienced instructors in implementing inclusive and equitable teaching in their current or upcoming course(s). This program assumes participants already understand the need for inclusive and equitable practices. Eligible participants must have teaching responsibilities in the current or upcoming academic year so that they can most immediately benefit from the content of the program by applying program concepts to their teaching. Participants will revise a syllabus or assignments for future use, reflect on their teaching based on student feedback and peer interactions, and consider how they might cultivate belonging in their courses.

Teach to Reach with Universal Design for Learning

Monday, 9/29/2025 to Friday, 10/31/2025, 08:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

In this four-week, entirely asynchronous online course, participants draw upon their own teaching or learning design experience and their existing, basic understanding of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to generate and respond to discussions, create an instructional activity inspired by UDL, and provide feedback on their peers’ activities.

The course is open to faculty of any rank or status, teaching assistants, post-doctoral instructors, and members of the learning design community with existing teaching or learning design experience and a basic understanding of UDL.

Visit our Short Courses page for more information and registration!