Designing for Everyone: Accessibility and Equity in Public Health Education with Leah Roman

I want to go back to one of the things that you said right at the start of this question was that thinking about accessibility right at the start, not as an afterthought.

Because I think some of the common misconceptions that we hear in the field is that accessibility is a technical consideration.

And that it's very clear to me, especially based on everything that you're saying, is that it's fundamentally about how people experience learning and information, that it's not an afterthought, right? It's not just a technical component of a course.

But, you know, it needs to be something integrated right at the beginning and not just something, you know, saved for later, you know, for lack of a better term.

So I want to talk more about accessibility itself and why it matters beyond just those compliance requirements that, you know, you may be working with, like with some of your clients that you had mentioned.

So when people hear the word accessibility, they often might think about accommodations or disability services.

But of course, it's, you know, much more than that.

So in your terms, how do you define accessibility and what do you wish more people understood about it?

I love this question.

I love starting with a definition because I often hear accessibility used interchangeably with other words, or I often hear accessibility interpreted in a different way in different environments.

For example, I went to a rural health conference recently, and when I said accessibility, people in that room immediately went to geographic accessibility because that's what they're often thinking about or not having access to the internet.

So having that kind of accessibility, but not disability focused necessarily.

So I like starting with a definition so that we're all talking about the same thing.

I actually have the definition that I like to use nearby because I think it's really comprehensive and helpful.

So this is from the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials.

So we say that educational materials and technologies are accessible.

to people with disabilities if they are able to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as people who do not have disabilities.

And so I really like that definition because I think it applies to so much of what we do in public health.

And I also think it helps us understand the complexity, you know, because those are three different things.

So maybe people can acquire the information, but they can't engage in the interaction, you know, or maybe they can interact with it, but they can't really enjoy those services because there's some other barriers.

So I think it raises those bigger questions.

But I think it's important to know, you know, when we talk about accessibility in this setting, especially we'll probably mention the Americans with Disability Act and some of those compliance pieces, you know, we're specifically talking about addressing potentially discriminatory aspects related to having an equivalent experience for people who have disabilities.

Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that definition that acquire, engage, enjoy, right? And I think oftentimes that's even the first time I've heard that definition.

And even that enjoy component is something that's never really addressed when we talk about accessibility and some of these things.

So even that being a part of this very prominent definition, I think is so important to be elevated that, like you said, can you acquire those services? Maybe you can, but can you engage in them? Maybe you can engage, but you can't enjoy.