Faculty is a key player in improving inclusion in postsecondary education and training. Whether in a lecture hall, a lab, or out in the field, instructors hold a pivotal role in how the learning context is designed, expectations for how students engage, and how their knowledge and skills are measured.
The heart of accessible teaching is knowledge of disability and disabled student experiences. Because disclosure rates are low and accommodation service requests intentionally share only the modifications needed (and not the reasons why), faculty can be unaware of the experiences of disabled students and how it impacts their engagement in learning.
They may not have a clear sense of how disability interacts with the course design or how to improve it to be more inclusive. Because of this disconnect, instructors are also unlikely to be aware of ableism — the negative stigma and attitudes that students experience both as micro and macroaggressions on campus.