In response to the impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on its students, The University of Texas at Dallas will make temporary exceptions to grading policies that will apply only to the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters.
The Academic Calendar for spring 2021 (PDF) has been updated to reflect later start and end dates. Here are the highlights:
The University of Texas at Dallas will continue to offer five different modalities of learning (PDF) for spring 2021.
As a reminder, there are numerous online resources available to support virtual teaching and instruction. Preferred platforms are those already in use at UT Dallas, including eLearning (including Blackboard Collaborate) and Microsoft Teams or Webex conferencing. Other technologies that faculty members already use for their courses may continue to be used, but they should not try to acquire new technologies.
In addition, the University’s Center for Teaching and Learning is regularly providing webinars to help faculty transition to virtual learning.
Course materials should be accessible to students, regardless of disability. A text equivalent for every non-text element should be included for all course materials. This includes images, graphics, video and audio.
Text-based course materials, such as syllabi and readings, must be made available in an accessible format. Detailed instructions are available from Microsoft on how to make Word documents accessible and how to those can be saved as accessible PDFs
. Documents should:
PDFs from external sources can be checked for accessibility and made accessible. Adobe Acrobat allows users to create and verify PDF accessibility .
Subtitles must be made available during live virtual lectures or class meetings.
If lectures are prerecorded, a text alternative must be made available, either as open or closed captions, or as a separate transcript file. Videos published in Microsoft Stream will have automatically generated captions . Any on-screen graphics should be described audibly in the lecture or in the transcription to make that content available to students with low or no vision. When uploading pre-recorded video to Stream, follow these steps to trigger Stream’s production of closed captions:
Note: Automatic captions generally take 1-2 times the video’s duration to finish processing (that is, expect to wait roughly two hours for the creation of captions for a one-hour video). Instructors may need to edit the captions for accuracy.
Click below to view frequently asked questions related to the specific topic.
© The University of Texas at Dallas