This website is dedicated to helping instructors build a syllabus that plans for diverse student abilities and promotes an atmosphere in which students feel comfortable discussing their unique abilities. Countless instructors complain that students don’t read the syllabus. We believe students would use the document more effectively if it were designed more accessibly.
Accessibility is necessary for all learning, and disability studies provides a key lens through which to question our classroom practices and resources. To create more inclusive teaching, instructors must plan for diversity in the classroom and adapt to the immediate needs of students.
Accessible design is an ongoing process. We welcome collaboration and critique.
Please contact us at accessiblesyllabus@gmail.com or join the conversation with #accessiblesyllabus.
Our Team
Anne-Marie Womack, Creator: I’m a Professor of Practice and former Director of Writing at Tulane University. My research focuses on rhetoric and composition, specifically disability studies and pedagogy. Feel free to email me (Awomack1@tulane.edu) if your university is interested in a professional development workshop. You can also follow me on twitter @amwomackdr.
Annelise Blanchard, Project Manager: I’m a psychology student at Tulane University. In addition to editing Accessible Syllabus, I work as a research assistant in a social perception lab at Tulane. I’m also fluent in French.
Cassie Wang, Web Developer: I’m a student at Tulane University in the School of Science and Engineering. My majors are computer science and math. I am fluent in English and Mandarin and proficient in Cantonese and Japanese.
Mary Catherine Jessee, Proofreader Copy Editor: I graduated with my Neuroscience degree from Tulane University Class in 2016. When I’m not working in the lab, I enjoy listening to and creating music.
Awards
Best Webtext of 2017, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, June 2017
MERLOT Classics Award for Exemplary Learning Material-Teacher Education, April 2017
Publicity
“Now is the Time to Think about Accessibility” Chronicle Vitae, 8 August 2017.
“Make a More Inclusive Syllabus with Tulane’s Accessible Syllabus Project” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Prof Hacker, 24 June 2016
“From the Archives: Preparing for the New Semester” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 August 2016
“Tulane’s Accessible Syllabus Site” Peer Reviewed by MERLOT, California State Digital Resources Database
Featured on over 80 pedagogy sites:
Including Academic Ableism, Anti-Ableist Composition, Arizona State University, Bryn Mawr, Boise State University, Boston College, Boston University, California State University Northridge, Carleton, Central Michigan University, Cerritos College, Champlain College, College of DuPage, The College of Wooster, Columbia, Disability Rhetoric, DO-IT, DePaul, Emory, Every Learner Everywhere, Duke, Flexible Teaching Toolkit, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Humboldt State, Innovative Course Learning Group, Indiana University, Iowa State University, Johns Hopkins, Luther College, Memorial University, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project, Montclair State University, Mount Holyoke, Oakland University, The Ohio State University, Oregon State, Penn State, Pepperdine, Plymouth State University, Polk State College, Portland Community College, Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, Rochester Institute of Technology, Saint Cloud State, San Francisco State, Santa Fe College, SETDA EdTech Update, Stanford, Stetson, St. Louis Community College, Suffolk Community College, Teaching in Higher Ed, Teaching Online Preparation Toolkit, Technology and Disability, Think UDL, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Buffalo, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of California Berkeley, University of California Santa Cruz, University of Cincinnati, University of Colorado, University of Houston, University of Houston-Downtown, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of Nevada-Reno, University of New Haven, University of Northern Colorado, University of Rhode Island, University of St. Thomas, University of Texas, University of Texas-Arlington, University of Vermont, University of Utah, Upstate University of South Carolina, Wake Forest, Washington State University. (Updated 9-2023)
Faculty Development Workshops
National Humanities Center, Graduate Student Residency (yearly program), July 7, 2020, Nov. 7-11, 2020, July 5-9, 2021, July 11-15, 2022
Miami University, October 14, 2021
Southern University, July 2021
University of Florida, March 10, 2021
Hollins University, August 6, 2020
The College of Wooster, June 23 & July 7, 2020
Northeastern University, April 21, 2020 (postponed due to Covid 19)
Louisiana State University, February 13, 2019 & March 5, 2020
University of Alabama, January 31, 2020
Edmonds Community College, January 17, 2020
Curry College, Writing Program, May 23, 2018
Supported By
Tulane Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching (CELT)
Newcomb College Institute, Media Internship Program