Making Accessibility the Assignment: What First-Year Writing Students Taught Me About Inclusive Pedagogy

What happens when we stop seeing accessibility as just a checkbox and start seeing it as a part of good communication practices? Or a core teaching practice? In this week’s post, Stacia Moroski-Rigney from Michigan State University shares how a seemingly simple first-year-writing class assignment that included required captions turned into something much more—an opportunity for students to reflect, connect, and rethink how to create and share content. It’s a great reminder that when we build accessibility into our everyday practices, we’re not just checking a box—we’re building habits of empathy and inclusion that can stick with students long after the semester ends.

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

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Captioning the Classroom

Although now many tools automatically caption, in fall 2019, that was not the case. For the fourth project in the class, I asked students to (1) caption videos they created earlier in the semester using tools from YouTube or from MSU’s contracted media systems and (2) write a reflective essay on the process and their experiences with accessibility features. It sounds simple, but for many students, it was their first encounter with the practical realities of making media accessible.

In classes leading up to the due date, students expressed surprise that auto-caption systems don’t always (usually?) get it right. Others wrestled with syncing timing or formatting dialogue, creating a script instead. Nearly all of them came to the same realization: it’s easy skip this step—to overlook the people who might not be able to hear or see your work. But when you make something accessible, you begin to see how many members of your audience can be left out of crucial information.

Accessibility as Rhetorical Awareness

The second part of the assignment—a three-page reflective essay—asked students to think about the “why.” Why caption? Why format their reflections for screen readers and assistive technologies? Why does this matter, beyond the classroom?

Their responses were pleasantly surprising; students didn’t just describe their process; they reflected deeply on the ethics of accessible communication. One student wrote, “I never thought about how someone might not be able to watch my video before. Now, I feel like I have to think about everyone, not just the professor grading me.”

Another remarked, “Accessibility is like empathy in action.”

By integrating accessibility into our curriculum, we weren’t simply teaching FYW. The assignment was helping students become more thoughtful, inclusive communicators.

Lessons for Us All

What can other educators take from this experience? Here are a few lessons I’ll carry forward:

• Start with accessibility: Rather than retrofitting accommodations, build accessibility into the structure of your assignments from the beginning. Frame it as part of rhetorical awareness, not just a technical task.
• Provide resources, not just guidelines:
  • The assignment linked students to captioning tools, formatting guides, and examples of accessible documents. We also problem-solved in class, especially around technology. When students feel supported, they’re more willing to try something new.
• Make reflection part of the learning: The act of captioning and creating accessible media taught them—but the writing made that learning visible. Students realized that accessibility isn’t a checkbox. It’s a mindset.

Accessibility is a Practice—Not a Perk

One of the most powerful outcomes of this project was the shift in student perspective. They began to understand that accessible communication isn’t about doing something “extra.” It’s about doing things right. On our next project, project five, over 80% of my students created accessible documents and videos… even though it was not a required part of the assignment.

As higher education continues to evolve in response to diverse student needs and digital innovation, we have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to build accessibility into our pedagogies. This assignment was just one small step, but it’s one I’ve kept building on.

And as it turns out, accessibility wasn’t just the subject of the assignment. It became the lesson itself.

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