Provost
Diversity & Inclusion
Over its first two hundred years, the University of Virginia has been at the forefront of producing global citizen leaders, groundbreaking research and scholarship, and world-class patient care.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Coordinator of Academic Accessibility (COAA)
The Role of the Coordinator of Academic Accessibility (COAA)
Working with multiple departments and units across Grounds, the primary focus of the COAA is to ensure accessibility for all to the academic experience at UVA, in particular members of the University community with disabilities.
The Captioning Project: Why Caption?
Why caption?
Captions/transcripts can be provided for both live and recorded events. The information below will focus on the provision of these resources for recorded audio/visual materials.
Often thought of only as a disability-related accommodation, captions and transcripts provide an enhanced means for engagement for many. Participants can gain from these resources by taking advantage of one or more of the following captioning benefits:
The Captioning Project
The Captioning Project's primary focus is to encourage accurate captioning/transcription of pre-recorded audio and video academic course content. To make this happen, the University is providing central funding - along with a coordinated management approach - to encourage the use of captioning vendors (3Play Media and Verbit) to produce captions and/or transcripts with 99% accuracy, and to do so in a timely manner.
Otter Voice Notes
What are Otter Voice Notes?
Otter Voice Notes (Otter) is a tool that converts voice conversations into smart notes by recording the audio and using artificial intelligence to provide machine-generated transcription. These transcriptions/notes can be edited, shared, and easily searched.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to equitable and inclusive practices and work environments across the University and throughout the span of faculty careers. To this end, the Office of the Provost offers a number of workshops and services to support equity, diversity, and inclusion.
UDL @ UVA
“The purpose of education is not to make information accessible, but rather to teach learners how to transform accessible information into usable knowledge.” -- Introduction to the UDL Guidelines (CAST, 2012)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework that guides the design of learning goals, materials, methods, and assessments while keeping in mind the diversity of learners and the variety of characteristics and experiences brought to the academic experience.
COAA - Creating Accessible Materials
We all want to "get it right" when it comes to providing access to our digital world including our digital content. It is important to remember accessibility is not an all or nothing endeavor. Going at this with a perfectionist mindset can be overwhelming and freeze you in your tracks. It is simply impossible to make all of your digital content 100% accessible for 100% of your users.
The most important thing is to start on the journey and learn some core skills of creating accessible, usable digital content.
Guidelines for Instructors
Instructors play a pivotal role in the shaping of the learning environment.
Guidelines for Instructors: Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment
Instructors play a pivotal role in the shaping of the learning environment. In addition to creating courses that fulfill the learning objectives of the department and school, there is an added requirement of creating a course that is not only accessible to students with disabilities but also incorporate pedagogy that is inclusive to students regardless of background, experiences, and customs.
COAA - Information from Events
No onsite events are currently scheduled. Information from previous events can be found below.
(Send email to coaa@virginia.edu if you need any of the following materials in an alternative format.)
Captioning in the COVID-19 Era
August 12, 2020
Resources: