Pronouns: She/Her
Research Interests
My current research focuses on digital accessibility. I am passionate about creating accessible digital course materials such as correctly captioned video tutorials, screen-reader accessible HTML and EPUB files, and PDFs. I am working to spread awareness of the need for accessibility in digital course materials and digital textbooks as well as provide tips and tricks for how to create these materials. When digital materials are designed with accessibility in mind, they are not only useful to those with disabilities, but they often provide features that enhance the user experience for all users.
Professional Interests
I enjoy all of the stages of instruction – lesson planning, content creation, and teaching. I am particularly interested in teaching Information Literacy to Undergraduate students. The ability to find and evaluate information – to be able to determine what is biased, what is “fake”, and what is irrelevant – is no longer just a skill set you need in school and then can forget about. It is vital to our everyday lives and I want to help young people to develop and value these skills.
I also have a personal interest in teaching both students and academic professionals about accessibility issues. Ensuring that all content is accessible to all students isn’t just the law – it’s the right thing to do. There are so many little things that can be built into lesson planning and content creation from the beginning that can make such a difference in a course’s level of accessibility. I do my best to make all of my materials accessible to the maximum number of students and to ensure that all of my students are aware of accessibility issues.
Why this topic?
My youngest brother, David, is Autistic. He is an amazing young man who has worked incredibly hard to surpass every expectation that has ever been put on him by doctors or by the school system. His success would not be possible without the support team he has had since he was very young – occupational therapists, speech therapists, mental/behavioral health therapists, special education teachers and aides, Special Olympics coaches, tutors, and so many others. Growing up with David helped me to understand that there is not an upper limit to what people can accomplish when they have the support they need. This is why accessibility in education is so important.
Rebecca N. Graham 